


Demonic Romeo

by Pastaaddict



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Character Death, Devil and Angel brothers, Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net under same name, Starcrossed Lovers, more tags may be added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastaaddict/pseuds/Pastaaddict
Summary: A demon and an angel meet in battle and a forbidden love blossoms but how long before the wrong people find out and both are put in danger?





	1. Vol I

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally connected to my story Big in Japan but I've rewritten it as a stand alone. I also did something weird with the names in the original (I used Google Translate to show the names in Japanese. Don't ask why, I don't know any more) so I've put the names back to normal. As the tags say, this is a Romeo and Juliet type story. Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> I don't own Hetalia.

 

**_**Vol I** _ **

Alfred F. Jones was bored.

He walked through Hell, seeing the same old sights, the same old demons, hearing the same old screams from the punishment pits and Alfred was so, so tired of it all, despite not being in Hell for very long. He wanted something different, he just did not know what.

Alfred was quite handsome for a demon. He had bright blue eyes that peered from behind half-rimmed glasses, a remnant from when he was alive and his hair had the cowlick he had in life. There were differences though. He had been blonde but now his hair was raven black with two black horns that curled round his head and he had two large, leathery, reptilian wings sprouting from his back and a snake-like, forked tail that flicked back and forth through the air and he wore the clothes that he had died in. A black suit covered by his favourite bomber jacket in life.

He had been attending his brother's funeral.

His brother, Matthew Williams, had been diagnosed with cancer and given a short time left to live. The two brothers had been separated when they were young after their parents died, Alfred was adopted by American relatives, Matthew by Canadian and, when they were reunited, they swore never to be separated again so when Alfred had been offered a deal by some Russian man called Ivan (who turned out to be a demon), to help Matthew, Alfred gave up his soul to save his brother from cancer but Matthew died in a car accident instead. On the way back from Matthew's funeral, Alfred's car had gone off the road and he had been killed.

Since then, he had been a demon, serving darkness and punishing the sinful. Someone who sold their soul to a demon would become one after death but someone who corrupted their soul without demon intervention went to Hell to be punished. Alfred had naturally felt cheated as he had given up his soul but his brother had still died and Alfred had lost everything. His brother, his life, his soul and he partly blamed Heaven for it. It seemed that everyone was born with a set time to live and, although demons could affect the order of things, Heaven would find a way to put things right.

Heaven could have just left Matthew alone? Why did it not? He also hated Ivan who had carefully worded the deal so that Ivan would prevent Matthew from _dying of cancer_ but he never said anything about preventing Matthew from dying some other way. He was still brooding when ….

"Alfred!"

Above the punishment pits, Alfred could see his friend, Gilbert Beilschmidt, flying through the air toward him. The Prussian had white, reptilian wings and tail that matched his white hair, his horns matched his red eyes and he was wearing a blue Prussian uniform. He had died during World War II when he sold his soul in order to save the army group he was commanding. He got them to safety and then caught the wrong end of an artillery shell. When Alfred first came down, Gilbert had, quite literally, taken the new young demon under his wing. The albino demon landed in front of Alfred with a big grin on his face.

"What's happening?" Alfred asked.

"Me, Antonio and Francis are going up top," Gilbert smirked. "Going to mess with a couple of angels out 'doing good'." Gilbert made air quotes around 'doing good'. Gilbert, Antonio and Francis used to be known as the Bad Touch Trio. When Alfred joined the gang, they became the Bad Touch Quartet.

"Want to come?" Alfred shrugged. He had nothing else to do.

"What kind of angels?" he asked.

"Guardian."

"Let's go steal what they're guarding!" Alfred replied, making Gilbert raise an eyebrow as Alfred was yet to corrupt any innocent soul but Alfred thought it might be a good idea to ward off the suspicion that it just did not appeal to him. "Maybe we can grab a couple of angels while we're at it."

* * *

"Why do you let yourself get pushed around by the Piano Bastard, idiota?" Romano Vargas groused as he and his younger brother, Feliciano walked down the street, unaware that they were being followed by their own unseen and unheard, white-robed guardian angels.

The two brothers looked very similar to each other except Romano was the eldest with dark red-brown hair and caramel eyes while Feliciano's hair was more auburn and his eyes were amber. Both had wayward curls springing out at the sides of their heads, Romano's on the right side, Feliciano's on the left.

"Ve~," Feliciano replied. "He's my boss. I have to do what he says." Feliciano worked for an Austrian called Roderich Edelstein who owned the Music Box shop and he was a difficult man to work for but the job had its upside. Roderich was extremely gifted on most instruments but especially on the piano and he would sometimes play in the shop, to the delight of the customers and Feliciano. Feliciano's guardian angel, Matthew Williams loved to listen too.

"You can always work in the restaurant, you know," Romano suggested. "Nonno would have loved that!" Nonno was their grandfather, Romulus Vargas, the only family they had after their parents had died and he had opened  _Paradiso_ _Italiano_ meaning __Italian Heaven_ _. He had died a few years ago and left the restaurant to his two grandsons and Feliciano owned half the restaurant but had wanted to try something new.

"Ve~ I'll think about it," he promised. His guardian angel, Matthew smiled.

"He'll be an angel when the time comes," he said to the other angel, his mentor and friend, Arthur Kirkland. This was Matthew's first assignment as a guardian angel. He had just above shoulder-length, blonde hair with a wayward strand that stuck out and curled down between his violet eyes behind his glasses and a pair of wings with beautiful white plumage grew from his back.

"He's a true pure soul," his companion agreed. "If he stays like this, Heaven will welcome him with open arms." Arthur, a veteran angel, was also blonde with emerald eyes, capped with the biggest eyebrows ever seen and usually wore a scowl on his face. Sometimes, he would think of something that would soften his face but these moments were few and far between. He also possessed a pair of magnificent white wings.

"What about Romano?" Matthew was not sure about him. "He seems a little hostile and ….. foul-mouthed?"

"So was I," Arthur chuckled. "Don't let his attitude fool you. He loves his brother but he never shows his true feelings. Believe me, he has a good heart and a good soul. Heaven won't reject him for little idiosyncrasies. All I have to do is make sure he doesn't stray from the light."

"I'm sure you'll ……" Arthur stopped and held up his hand, indicating for Matthew to be quiet. He scanned the buildings around them and immediately went on alert.

"There are demons nearby," he warned.

* * *

Alfred looked down from the roof-top as he and the rest of the Bad Touch Quartet watched the two humans being followed by the two angels. Antonio Carriedo was a Spanish demon with brown hair and green eyes who had died during the Spanish Civil War where he had sold his soul for the safety of his family. He was dressed in brown and his horns, wings and tail were a darker brown. Francis Bonnefoy was French with long, blonde hair and blue eyes, his devilish appendages were dark blue/grey. He had died in the eighteen hundreds and was dressed in a blue jacket and red pantaloons. He had sold his soul to save his wife, Jeanne, from dying from a heart condition but she died in a fire instead. All were Ivan's deals.

The others were ready to go in for the attack but the humans and the angels needed to be closer. Then Alfred saw one of the angels stop and make a hand gesture to the other, looking around at the buildings.

"He knows," he said, indicating the now alert angel. Gilbert grinned.

"Let's not disappoint," he replied, with a smirk.

The Bad Touch Quartet attacked.

* * *

Romano and Feliciano were completely unaware of what was going on above their heads but their guardian angels took to the air, producing golden bows and arrows as the demons swooped in. They split up and the demons divided too. The black and brown-haired demons facing Arthur, the blonde and white-haired ones confronting Matthew. Matthew moved his bow left and right, trying to keep both demons covered with his arrow as they moved toward him, both carrying their weapons of choice, the blonde, a fencing sword and the albino, a broadsword. He fired his arrow but both demons dodged it and when they turned back, the arrow was back in the bow.

"My, my," he heard the white-haired demon say with a German accent. "You're a fierce little birdie, aren't you. Imagine what you could do, corrupting souls. You'd make a cute demon, what do you say, Francis?"

"Hon hon hon," The blonde demon laughed, clearly French "He would be absolutely adorable, not that he isn't now. Why not come with us, petit oiseau mignon ( _cute little bird_ )? We'll take very good care of you!"

"I'll never be a demon!" Matthew declared and fired off another arrow. Both demons dodged it and began circling the angel like airborne sharks.

* * *

Alfred observed his enemy and thought it was a pity he was an angel, he was kind of cute, even with the large eyebrows. His blonde bed-head hair and his bright green eyes were adorable and not at all marred by the scowl on his face as he aimed his bow at him and Antonio

"There are over six billion souls in the world," Alfred commented, gripping a pistol, his weapon of choice. "Do you really want to get hurt, fighting over a mere two?" Arthur's scowl deepened.

"Every soul is precious," he sneered. "Not that I'd expect you to know that since you clearly sold yours. For what! Fame! Fortune! Power! Was it worth it?"

"None of your business!" Alfred snapped. Arthur had clearly struck a nerve and he wondered what the demon's story was. It was a pity he was a demon, though. With a face like that, he would have been a beautiful angel but Arthur's priority right now was to protect the Vargas Brothers until they got safely out of the way.

"Cute little friend you have there, amigo," Antonio said with a smile as he held his battle-axe ready. "And I'm not talking about the other angel." Antonio looked down at Romano and Arthur immediately flew to put himself between the demons and the Vargas Brothers.

"You'll get him over my cold dead body," he declared, aiming the arrow at Antonio's chest and Alfred had a feeling the angel was going to say that.

"Pity," he commented and he and Antonio flew in to attack.

* * *

As this was Matthew's first assignment, this was also his first fight against demons and he was facing two of them. He knew he was out of his league and the demons were just toying with him so he concentrated on keeping them busy long enough for Romano and Feliciano to get as far away from danger as they could. He fired off arrow after arrow and the demons dodged his attempts, laughing as they did so. He finally made his mistake while taking aim at the white-haired demon, not realizing that the blonde one was coming up behind him until he was grabbed from behind, the demon's arms pinning his arms and his wings against his body and the demon's wings flapping to keep them aloft.

"You put up a good fight, Birdie," Gilbert commented. "Cute and determined! Imagine the souls you could corrupt! What do you say, Francis? Time for The Bad Touch Quartet to become The Bad Touch Quintet?" Francis leant forward until his lips were almost touching the shell of Matthew's ear.

"Undoubtedly, Gilbert," Francis breathed, making Matthew shiver. "I can't wait to induct this sweet little bird into our _intimate_ little group." Gilbert flew up to Matthew and cupped his cheek.

"You're going to have so much fun, Birdie," he said and pecked Matthew on the lips.

* * *

Arthur was doing a good job of holding the demons off as the Vargas brothers got further and further away. Alfred had to admit that he was impressed with the angel's fighting skills and speed, dodging his bullets and Antonio's axe. He would make a fine demon. Arthur was ready to fire again when he saw Matthew in the grip of his two opponents and saw the white-haired one kiss him so he turned his bow in their direction.

"MATTHEW!" he shouted and let the arrow fly, just as Antonio took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed Arthur, pinning the angel's wings and arms and calling for Alfred to come help but Alfred had just frozen.

_MATTHEW!_

* * *

Francis let go of Matthew and Gilbert flew backwards when the saw the arrow winging its way toward them. Matthew dropped a little until his wings caught the air currents and arrested his descent. He looked up, just in time to see his friend and mentor being grabbed by the brown-haired demon and winged his way to the rescue.

* * *

Arthur struggled to shake off the demon but he would not budge and then suddenly, a white blur ripped the demon away. Matthew pushed Antonio away from him and then flew backwards to fly next to Arthur.

"Matthew!" Matthew turned and faced the black-haired demon who had spoken and his jaw dropped.

"Alfred!" he gasped. His hair had been blonde in life but there was no denying that the black-haired demon was his brother. The white and blonde-haired demons joined the other two as they faced the two angels.

"The two souls got away," Gilbert said and they could see that the Vargas Brothers were nowhere in sight. Arthur grabbed Matthew and flew away with Matthew looking back at his brother.

"Bueno!" Antonio commented. "I love a good chase."

"Let them go!" The other Bad Touch Quartet members stared back at Alfred.

"Alfred," Gilbert argued. "If we were to take two guardian angels …..."

"Let. Them. GO!"

They watched as the guardian angels made good their escape.

* * *

After checking to see if the two Italians had made it home, Arthur and Matthew had returned to Heaven but Matthew was quiet, more than usual. They had to report the incident to the Keepers of the Heavenly Records, Angel Wolfgang and Angel Romulus. Romulus bore a strong resemblance to the Vargas Brothers and was most concerned about the incident because it involved the two people he loved most on Earth.

"Romano and Feliciano?" he asked, his white wings, ruffling. "They were not hurt, were they?" Arthur shook his head.

"They were unaware of the whole thing," he replied. "We even made sure that they made it home unharmed." Romulus breathed a sigh of relief.

"However," Arthur warned. "One of the demons showed an interest in Romano. That's something I'm worried about!"

"We'll give extra protection to him until we're sure this threat has passed," Wolfgang replied, an angel with long blonde hair that had a braid down each side. He understood the worry this would cause his friend as he himself had lost a grandson to Hell. "I'll assign Ludwig to him. He'll do whatever it takes to see that he's safe."

"Thank you!" Romulus was very grateful but Wolfgang was a little worried with the description of one of the demons. The one with white hair.

* * *

"Why did no one tell me about Alfred?!" Matthew blurted as they left. "Why did they let me find out about my brother like that?!" Arthur stared at Matthew in shock.

"Your brother!" he replied. "You didn't know he was a demon?!"

"I didn't even know he was dead," Matthew said. "How did he become a demon? He could be loud and even annoying sometimes but he was still a good person so why?"

"The only way to become a demon after death," Arthur replied. "Is to sell your soul to another demon. Is there any reason why your brother might do such a thing?" Matthew thought back over the last few years of his life.

"Me!" he replied, upset that he was the reason for his brother's fall. "I was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. The doctors could do nothing but then I began to recover and went into remission and then, around the time I was supposed to die of cancer, I died in a car accident." Arthur began to regret his words to Alfred about why he sold his soul. If he had indeed sold his soul to try and save his brother then he had been cheated. Everyone was born with a certain time on Earth and nothing could upset that. Demons could affect it but the order of things would right the disruption in some other way but it was a loophole that some demons took full advantage of. Particularly the demon Ivan, also known as The Soul Thief. He was the worst.

The irony was that someone who would give everything for someone they loved was the kind of person Heaven would welcome but selling their soul stopped that. A shame! Alfred would have made a wonderful angel.

* * *

"Why did we let them go?" Gilbert demanded. "If we'd managed to drag two guardian angels into Hell, we'd have finally knocked Ivan off his pedestal of Top Demon." Alfred stalked through Hell with the others following him.

"Si!" Antonio agreed. "You know how long we've been trying to beat him!" They all hated Ivan. Alfred and Francis had felt cheated by Ivan and it seemed that Gilbert and Antonio had sold their souls for outcomes that were going to happen anyway. It was the nature of demons but grudges were still held.

"Oui!" Francis concurred and then added, lecherously. "And I would have loved to corrupt that cute little bird …... " Francis was cut off as Alfred seized his throat, lifted him up and pinned him against the wall. Alfred might have been the youngest of them but he was also the strongest.

"Stay away from him!" he warned. "DO. NOT. TOUCH. HIM!" Then he dropped Francis and stormed away. The other demons just looked at each other.

What brought that on?

* * *

Gilbert wisely waited a while for Alfred to calm down and then went to see him in his room. The young demon was brooding about the encounter with the two angels, especially Matthew.

"Want to tell me what that was about, earlier?" Gilbert asked. Alfred looked at him as if contemplating whether or not to tell him.

"The angel you and Francis were fighting," he replied. "His name is Matthew. He's my older brother, the one I sold my soul to save." Gilbert blew out a breath. Now it made sense. His little brother was an angel too and, as much as he would like to have his brother with him, he would not condemn him to Hell.

"Are you going to tell Francis and Antonio?" he asked. Alfred shook his head.

"The less who know the better," he replied. "I don't want Ivan to find out about Matthew! He knows too much about him as it is."

"I won't say a word!" Gilbert promised. "By the way, your older brother's cute." Gilbert made good his escape, dodging whatever Alfred had thrown in his direction and smashed against the wall where he had been.

Left alone, Alfred tried to think of ways he could find Matthew again. Knowing his brother, he would have worked out what had led Alfred to this and Matthew would blame himself. He had to talk to Matthew and convince him that it had been Alfred's decision and mistake but to do that he had to find him.

Or the angel who had been with him!

 

 


	2. Vol II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Ivan.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In remembrance of 911

 

**_**Vol II** _ **

Ludwig Beilschmidt watched as Romano bustled around the restaurant kitchen, stirring pots and adding seasoning, if needed, and putting the meals together as the waiters and waitresses hurried in to take them out to the diners in the dining area. Ludwig was a 'warrior' or 'arc' angel with slicked-back blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Unlike the other angels who wore robes, he wore leather armour, enhanced with metal plates. He stood out of the way, watching over Romano who, he had been told, had come to the interest of a demon. Arthur stood beside Ludwig as Romano put another meal together and put it on the shelf for collection.

"Tell me about this demon," Ludwig said to Arthur, his accent revealing his German heritage.

"I didn't hear his name," Arthur replied. "Brown hair, green eyes, Spaniard in life, judging by his accent and he was with three other demons. A black-haired demon called Alfred and Matthew said the blonde demon was called Francis and the white-haired one was called Gilbert."

"Gilbert!"

"You know him?" Arthur asked. Ludwig nodded, reluctantly.

"My older bruder," he admitted. "He sold his soul in life to save his army group in WWII. He didn't need to, they would have survived anyway."

"Why do I see The Soul Thief's hand in that!" Arthur replied, drily. Ivan Braginski or 'The Soul Thief' was well-known, even among angels and particularly to Arthur. The Russian demon seemed to specialize in corrupting souls in a way that would normally see those souls go to Heaven. It was almost like he was mocking Heaven.

"Because it was," Ludwig replied. "I was told that Großvater _( Grandfather _)_ _ was devastated when Gilbert went to Hell. Anyway, I believe your Spanish demon is called Antonio Carriedo. Großvater tries to keep tabs on Gilbert so he knows who he hangs around with. The other one is a French demon called Francis Bonnefoy."

"Alfred is apparently Matthew's younger brother," Arthur revealed. "He thinks his brother may have sold his soul to save him from cancer."

"That sounds like one of Ivan's deals too," Ludwig commented. He would make a point of speaking with the young angel when he had a moment. He was probably blaming himself for his brother's fall but, the truth was, Ivan was very good at what he did. Too good! Suddenly, Feliciano burst into the kitchen, followed by Matthew.

"Fratello!" he called out.

"What!" Romano shouted. "And don't come running into the kitchen like that, idiota!"

"That's his brother?" Ludwig asked.

"Yes, that's Feliciano," Arthur replied. "You'll find it hard to find a purer soul." Matthew joined Ludwig and Arthur while Feliciano went to his brother. Matthew had been quieter than normal since the fight and coming face to face with his demon brother.

"Excusi, Fratello," Feliciano apologised. "I came to tell you, the Music Box is closing. Mr Edelstein was spotted by a music scout and he's going to be world famous!"

"Good!" Romano replied. "That means you can ditch the Piano Bastard and come back here."

"Ve~," Feliciano said, sadly. "I'll miss listening to his music."

"If the Piano Bastard becomes world famous," Romano swore. "You'll be able to download and listen to him now make your damn self useful and help me with this." Feliciano picked up two of the meals Romano had prepared and followed his brother to take them for collection.

"This is how he speaks to his bruder?" Ludwig frowned. Arthur chuckled.

"Believe it or not," he replied. "Romano loves his brother. He just can't show it like everyone else."

"I hope so," the arc-angel replied, looking over at the two brothers. Something about the younger brother drew him, the innocence of his soul perhaps but that would be a draw to demons as well but, if Feliciano began working at the restaurant, it would make it easier for Ludwig to watch over both of them. He hoped that would happen!

* * *

With Ludwig and Arthur watching both brothers, Matthew returned to Heaven. Some of the higher angels wanted to talk to him about the situation with Alfred and, after seeing the brothers home, Arthur parted company with Ludwig and was making his way back to Heaven when he sensed the presence of a demon. It had taken Alfred some time to find either angel from the fight and finally he had found one of them. He had hoped he would find Matthew but the other one would do. Besides, he was cute! Arthur summoned his bow and arrow, preparing to fight. The black-haired demon approached with his hands up in truce.

"I come in peace, Dude" he said. "I just want to talk about Matthew." Arthur lowered the bow but kept it to hand. Alfred lowered his hands and walked forward slowly.

"How is he?"

"Quiet," Arthur replied.

"He was always quiet," Alfred commented.

"Quieter than normal," Arthur elaborated. "Finding out his brother's dead was bad enough! Finding out he's a demon! Well, it was quite a shock, Alfred!"

"So he told you," Alfred said.

"And the reason he thinks you might have sold your soul."

"He blames himself, doesn't he?"

"Did you do it to save him from cancer?" Alfred looked down.

"I apologise for what I said about selling your soul," Arthur said, sincerely. Despite the result, what Alfred did was self-sacrificing. "It was very selfless." Alfred's head snapped up.

"Then why didn't Heaven let him live?" he snapped. "He never stood out much so most people never saw it but Matthew was the most wonderful brother that ever lived. Why couldn't Heaven leave him alone?"

"Heaven has no say," Arthur replied. "There's an order to the universe. When demons affect what's supposed to happen, the universe will change to bring about the original result, like a river flowing down hill. You can change its course but you can't make it flow uphill. It will only ever flow down. Heaven has nothing to do with it. It's our task to protect the souls, not to alter their lives. We know that's futile."

"So I was cheated."

"By Ivan?" Arthur asked.

"You know Ivan?"

"Most angels do," Arthur replied. "Ivan's famous for corrupting souls in ways that, in normal circumstances, would see those souls go to Heaven. We call him 'The Soul Thief' and he's hated with a passion."

"I can think of a few demons that don't like him either," Alfred admitted with a chuckle. "Me included." Then Alfred's face took on a serious expression.

"I wanna talk to Matthew," he said. "I wanna tell him it wasn't his fault. I made my own decisions, my fate's my own responsibility."

"You would have been a wonderful angel," Arthur replied. Alfred did not belong in Hell!

"With your skills, you'd be a great demon," Alfred said. "But I'm not an angel so there's no use dwelling on what can't be changed. Do you think Matthew will want to see me?"

"I think he will," Arthur answered. "But it depends on what the Higher-Ups tell him. Contact between angels and demons is not encouraged." Alfred nodded.

"It's not encouraged on our side, either," he commented. "Unless it involves fighting, of course but I need to see him!" Arthur got the feeling that he was seeing a little of Alfred as he was when he was human.

"I'll see what I can do," Arthur promised. "But I'm doing this for Matthew!"

"So am I!"

* * *

Ivan watched The Bad Touch Quartet as they moved around Hell. The silver-blonde demon with the horns, wings and tail that matched his lavender/violet eyes knew that the three demons, along with that little upstart, Jones hated him and would love to bring him down. Speaking of Jones, he had not been around for a while. Was he planning something against him? Him! The one even the angels called 'The Soul Thief'!

That was when he saw Jones fly in on his black wings and glide down to his friends. Carriedo greeted Jones like usual but Bonnefoy was a little tenuous. It was the look between Jones and Beilschmidt that drew Ivan's attention. Like they were sharing a secret and Ivan was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

Antonio behaved the same around Alfred but Francis, who had been on the receiving end of Alfred's wrath, was more wary, not knowing why Alfred had lost it with him before, other than it was something to do with the violet-eyed angel. Only Gilbert knew the full truth and Gilbert had guessed why Alfred had gone back up to the surface. He only hoped a certain demon and his lackeys did not find out.

Speak of the devil! No pun intended. ( _Well, not much_ )

Ivan glided across the punishment pits effortlessly, as if the screams of the damned were the wind keeping him aloft as he flew toward them and Alfred scowled as Ivan landed in front of them. The Russian demon smiled his child-like smile at them but everybody knew that smile hid a nature that even other demons would describe as vicious.

"Privet, comrades," he greeted. "And where have you been all day, Jones?"

"What business is it of yours, Braginski?" Alfred snarled. “You're not my mother.” The rest of the Bad Touch Quartet looked at each other. It was like Alfred's dislike of Ivan had blossomed into full-blown loathing.

"I was thinking, perhaps you had gone up for some reason," Ivan smiled. "Perhaps to corrupt souls or hunt angels! Maybe we could do that together some time?"

"When Hell freezes over," Gilbert muttered, a favourite phrase among the denizens of Hell.

"We can corrupt souls and hunt angels on our own," Alfred snapped. "We don't need your help."

"Or perhaps you go up for another reason," Ivan just threw that out there to see Alfred's reaction but he did not expect Gilbert to react as well as both of them tensed up.

 _' So! '_ Ivan thought. _' Jones does have another reason. And so does Beilschmidt, or at least, he knows about it. Carriedo and Bonnefoy don't seem to be in on it though '_

"Like I said," Alfred growled. "Mind your own business, Braginski!"

"As you wish, comrades," Ivan replied. "See you!" And he flew back over the pits but he looked back at the four demons, staring at him with contempt and smiled.

He would keep an eye on young Jones!

* * *

Arthur considered the wisdom of what he was doing. Matthew and Alfred were brothers but Alfred was a demon. Would he try to use this opportunity to drag Matthew to Hell and corrupt him to make him a demon so they could be together? Arthur did not think so but he was risking Matthew's angelic light on his hunch but could he really keep him from his brother? The plan was to go straight to Matthew but it was interrupted when he heard someone call out to him.

“Kon'nichiwa, Arthur-san,” Arthur turned to see an old friend coming toward him. Arthur had first met Kiku Honda when he was alive, shortly after a meeting with another individual that could have changed his entire afterlife.

_79 years ago ….._

_Arthur had eyed the strange person before him, trying to take in what the tall, platinum haired, violet-eyed man had told him. The man had made Arthur nervous, having seen this person looking at him several times before he finally approached Arthur and introduced himself as Ivan Braginski._

_“Let me get this straight,” Arthur said. “You can see the future.”_

_“Da!” the man replied, revealing his Russian origins._

_“And you say that my little brother will be in a traffic accident and you can save him for a price.”_

_“Da!”_

_“And the price being ….....?” Arthur asked that with a hint of scepticism. “I've no time for con-men.” Ivan's face darkened for a moment and then lightened again._

_“I assure you, Mr Kirkland,” he replied. “This is no con-trick. I can see to it that your little brother survives the accident.”_

_“Really!” Arthur was scornful now. “And just how much would I have to pay for Peter to 'survive the accident'? If you're looking for a big payout, you're looking at the wrong man.” Ivan just smiled._

_“I have not mentioned money,” he replied. “No, I do not require money. The price is something you can give me after your death. All I want …... is your soul.” Arthur gave Ivan a startled look then turned on his heel and began to walk away._

_“Good day, Mr Braginski,” he called but Ivan followed him._

_“Are you really going to let your little brother die, Mr Kirkland?” he asked._

_“No,” Arthur replied. “Because he's not going to die! You're either a fraud or mad, good day!”_

_“Can you really take that risk, Arthur?”_

_“Stay away from me!” Arthur ran, leaving Ivan behind. When he was out of sight of the insane Russian, he stopped and took a deep breath, thinking about what just happened. Of course the man was not to be listened to but some doubt began to sneak in. Arthur had been raising Peter since their mother's death when Peter was four, their father having died just before Peter was born, in the same epidemic that took their older brothers. Peter was the last of Arthur's family and Arthur would do what he must to protect him from harm but the idea that the only way of protecting Peter was selling his soul was ridiculous but ….... what if there was something to it. And how did that Braginski bloke know his name? Arthur shook his head. Was he seriously considering it?_

_“I hope you are not considering his offer,” a voice not far away from him said and Arthur looked up to see a rather small man with Asian features of soft brown eyes and black hair cut to the level of the back of his neck and he bowed. “Please! Forgive the intrusion.” The man bowed._

_“You know that man?” Arthur asked. The man nodded._

_“I know that man by reputation,” he replied. “And he is not to be trusted. Many have fallen for his trickery, despite his wild claims. I would hate to see you fall victim to him.”_

_“What he was claiming was insane,” Arthur replied._

_“Yes, his sanity is in question,” Kiku agreed. “But he is very persuasive. It would be best if you stayed away from him.”_

_“Thank you,” Arthur replied. “I'll do just that. My name is Arthur Kirkland, by the way.” And he held out his hand for the Japanese man to shake. The man looked at Arthur's hand for a moment as if unsure what to do with it and then put his hand in Arthur's and they shook._

_“Kon'nichiwa, Arthur Kirkland-san,” he replied. “My name is Kiku Honda.”_

_* * * * *_

_Ivan had plagued Arthur but, following Kiku's advice, Arthur refused to talk to the man and avoided him whenever possible. In the past few days, Ivan had been more persistent than ever but Kiku had intervened directly where as before, Kiku had merely offered advice. Ivan seemed to despise Kiku's presence and not just because Kiku was interfering with his interaction with Arthur and it was not until after the prophesied accident that he knew why._

_Arthur had been taking Peter to school, a normal and mundane thing done every week day and he had no reason to think that this day would be any different. He had stopped at a junction and looked to see if there was any traffic coming down the road in front of him. He hated this junction as it was on a bend and so had a blind spot which was why he never saw the lorry as he pulled out of the junction. In the few seconds he had between seeing the lorry and it hitting his car, he thought 'Ivan was telling the truth' and he was going to give Peter the best chance of surviving that he could and threw his body over his little brother and the last thing he heard was the crush of metal hitting metal and the smashing of glass. He never even felt any pain as the side of the car was pushed in against his body before everything went dark._

_It was only for a moment but it felt longer and then Arthur pushed himself up and away from Peter and looked down to see if his little brother was alright but found himself looking down at his own back as his body was curled around Peter. Arthur looked down at himself to see that he was dressed in white robes and he could feel a weight on his back and he looked over his shoulder and caught sight of white feathers on a wing that he could tell was attached to his back and he looked over his other shoulder and saw the wing on that side too. He looked back down at the body he seemed to have climbed out of and could see glimpses of Peter behind his own corpse. He looked unconscious and Arthur could not see if he was breathing or not._

_“He's alive, Arthur-san,” he heard Kiku's voice outside the car. Arthur looked round and saw Kiku through the windscreen that was now missing its glass but not the Kiku he knew. This Kiku was in white robes like him and also sported a pair of magnificent white wings. Behind Kiku, people were running toward the wrecked car but none of them noticed Kiku as the passenger door was forced open and a men began to check the occupants of the car._

_“The driver's dead,” he said to the other people and reached under Arthur's body to check Peter. “The boy's alive. Looks like the driver used his own body to protect him.” There were murmurs of 'Brave man' among the other people who had come to help while Kiku beckoned for Arthur to leave the car. Arthur climbed out through the missing windscreen._

_“I am sorry, Arthur-san,” Kiku said. “I could do nothing about your death but Peter will live. It is not his time.”_

_“Ivan was telling the truth,” Arthur accused. Kiku nodded._

_“About the accident, yes,” he admitted. “But Peter was always destined to survive it. Had you agreed to sell your soul to Ivan to save him, you would have sold it for nothing and you would be a demon now.”_

_“Who are you, really?” Arthur demanded._

_“My name is Kiku Honda as I told you,” Kiku replied. “I'm your guardian angel.”_

_“If you were watching over me,” Arthur snapped. “Why didn't you warn me about this? I could have kept Peter home today and avoided the accident altogether.”_

_“The rules of Heaven prohibited me from revealing my true identity to you,” Kiku said. “And you still would have died, Arthur-san. You have a set time on Earth and even had you avoided this, you would have met your fate some other way. This death was quick, another one might not have been so painless. It is not the task of the guardian angels to protect the lives we watch over but to protect the souls so it was not my task to save you from death but from corruption of the soul.” Arthur struggled to understand._

_“You were saving me from Ivan,” he said and Kiku nodded again._

_“Ivan Braginski is a demon,” Kiku revealed. “He is known as the Soul Thief as he gets people to sell him their souls for things like this. To save a loved one and in most cases, the loved one dies in some other way or was never destined to die anyway, just like Peter-kun. He has always managed to get the soul he has targeted which makes you his first failure. Congratulations.” Arthur harrumphed and looked back at the car. An ambulance had arrived and Peter was being transferred into the back while Arthur's body was pulled from the car, put on a trolley and a sheet was put over it to hide it from sight._

_“You saved me,” Arthur said. “You saved my soul but what do I do now?” Kiku smiled_

_“You come with me,” he replied. “Heaven already wanted you but you sacrificed yourself to save Peter-kun. That, as they might say, sealed the deal so you will be trained to be a guardian angel like me.” Kiku looked toward the ambulance and nodded at someone Arthur hadn't noticed at first. A young woman with honey-blonde hair, held back by a head-band in a flowing white dress and beautiful wings and Arthur realised that this was Peter's guardian angel._

_“That is Emma Andersson,” Kiku said, following Arthur's line of sight. “A most capable guardian angel. Peter-kun is in good hands.” Arthur sighed, accepting that Peter could no longer be his responsibility any more._

_“What now?” he asked._

_“Now we find a church.”_

_* * * * *_

_Present day …._

“Hello, Kiku,” Arthur greeted his friend and former guardian angel. After Arthur's death and becoming an angel, Kiku was reassigned as all angels were when their wards were no longer living. Now he was the guardian angel of a young girl named Lili Zwingli. “How is Lili?”

“She is no trouble for me at all,” Kiku smiled. “An angel in the making, like you were.” Arthur snorted. He had been somewhat foul-mouthed and prone to bouts of grumpiness. But he had become an angel, despite all that. “What about your ward, Lovino-san?” Arthur sighed.

“The Vargas Brothers have attracted demons,” he replied. “Matthew and I fought them but one of them turned out to be Matthew's brother. It's all a bit of a mess, really.”

“That is regrettable,” Kiku commiserated. “How is Matthew-san?” Arthur sighed again.

“A little quiet,” he said. “I'm going to see if I can cheer him up a little.” Kiku nodded.

“In that case,” he replied. “I will not keep you. Please give Matthew-san my regards.” Arthur nodded while Kiku bowed and went on his way.

Arthur continued on to Matthew's chambers and knock on the door. At a muffled 'come in', Arthur pushed the door open and walked in to see Matthew sat in a window with his arms wrapped round his knees and his wings drooping on his shoulders so Arthur had the feeling that the meeting with the Higher-Ups had not gone well. Matthew turned to see Arthur and then turned to look out of the window, staring at the Earth below.

“Lars just left,” he said. Arthur knew Lars had been Matthew's guardian angel and a very capable one, like his sister, Emma. When Matthew was alive, Lars had been surprised when Matthew's cancer went into remission and he began to get better because Lars had known when Matthew was due to die of his cancer but it seemed like, as unlikely as it was, it was not going to happen, but then Matthew had the accident and Lars brought him to Heaven, just when he was supposed to but when Matthew told him about Alfred, it all now made sense to Lars. Matthew's brother had fallen victim to the Soul Thief and sold his soul to save his brother and Lars wished that he had worked that out at the time, not that he could have done anything about it, Alfred had not been his charge and, once he had made the deal with Ivan, Alfred became beyond Heaven's reach. Normally, it would be Alfred's guardian angel that would be responsible for the safety of Alfred's soul but, in the case of that particular angel ….... well, that was a tragedy.

"They said I should just forget him," Matthew said, softly, pulling Arthur out of his reminiscence. Arthur cursed under his breath at the cruelty of such an comment. "How can I just forget my brother! Especially if he became a demon by selling his soul to save me."

"The Higher-Ups have been up here too long," Arthur huffed. "I don't think any of them have siblings, let alone demon siblings so they don't consider feelings when they make these suggestions. Gits!"

"Does this mean I can never see Alfred again?" Matthew asked, a tear crawling down his cheek.

"No," Arthur replied. "They're not completely heartless, they would just rather you didn't. There's always a chance that a demon will try to take his angel sibling to Hell to change them."

"But why?"

"So they can have their sibling with them," Arthur said. "You think we discourage contact between angels and demons, Hell is worse, violently so. Better to take their siblings to Hell and change them than maintain a secret relationship with them."

"Alfred wouldn't do that," Matthew replied, adamantly.

"Are you sure?" Arthur wanted to know before he told Matthew what had happened on Earth.

"Alfred could be a little thoughtless," Matthew admitted. "Even obnoxious sometimes but, when it counted, he would always go the extra mile to help me. He would always do what was best for me and I can't believe he would change so much." Arthur looked down at his feet.

"So you'd want to see him again if you could?," he asked.

"Yes!" Arthur looked up into Matthew's eyes.

"He wants to see you!"

"What?"

"He approached me, down on Earth," Arthur admitted. "He wants to talk to you, if you're willing." Matthew practically leapt from the window.

"Of course I am," he said, excitedly. "When can I go?"

"We!" Arthur replied, adamantly. "I'm going with you. You might believe Alfred won't drag you to Hell, I'm not so sure." Matthew wrapped his arms around Arthur and hugged him.

"Thank you, Arthur!"

* * *

"Did you find him?" Gilbert visited Alfred in his room, knowing he had been looking for his brother on the surface.

"I didn't find Matthew," Alfred replied. "But I found the other one. I think I've convinced him to help me see my brother."

"What are you going to do if you do see him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to bring him down here?" Gilbert asked.

"Would you drag Ludwig down here?" Gilbert shook his head.

"I want to convince him that this is not his fault," Alfred replied. "I remember what Matthew was like in life. He'll blame himself for this."

"Just hope certain demons don't find out about this," Gilbert warned and they both thought of one demon in particular. Alfred did not fear Ivan on his own account but if he found out, Ivan might target Matthew.

"The Awesome me has your back!"

* * *

Arthur sat in the restaurant as Romano was working as a waiter this time, Feliciano having taken over the food preparation. Ludwig hovered nearby as Romano delivered meals and collected empty plates, smiling to the faces of the customers and cursing some of them for leaving food, a stingy tip or not leaving one at all, under his breath. Arthur wondered what Romano's reaction would be if he knew about all the otherworldly attention he was attracting. There had been no sign of the Spanish demon but demons were known for biding their time so Romano would have a heavenly bodyguard for a while yet.

A movement outside the window caught Arthur's eye and he turned to see Alfred outside the building across the way. He nodded to Arthur and went around the corner of the building. Arthur turned back to Ludwig and indicated that he was going outside. Ludwig nodded and Arthur left the restaurant.

He went around the corner he had seen Alfred go around and found him leaning against the wall, his black wings curling around him like a cocoon. Arthur found it difficult to think of him as a demon now. More like a dark, fallen angel.

"If we're going to keep doing this, Alfred," Arthur said. "You might as well know my name. I'm Arthur Kirkland." Alfred smiled a smile that did not belong on the face of a demon.

"Pleasure to meet you, Arthur," he replied. "My full name is Alfred F. Jones. Have you spoken to Matthew?" Arthur nodded.

"He'll see you," he said. "But I'll be there when he does. You understand I can't take the risk that you'll try to take Matthew with you when you return to Hell." Alfred nodded. He was glad his brother had this wonderful angel looking out for him.

"I wouldn't do that to Matthew," Alfred replied. "But if it makes you feel better, I can go along with that." Arthur smiled.

"Matthew will be here tomorrow with me," Arthur said. "Watching over Feliciano. I'll arrange for us to be able to meet you. Can you make it tomorrow?"

"I'll manage it somehow," Alfred promised, pushing himself away from the wall.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Arthur turned to leave.

"Arthur!" Arthur turned back.

"Thank you!" Then Alfred surprised Arthur by leaning forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Alfred had surprised himself when he kissed the angel. He found Arthur attractive but he never thought he would go so far. But the kiss was so wonderful, he could not leave it there.

He took Arthur's face in both hands and kissed the angel more firmly. From the building roof, the demon saw it all.

"What are you doing, Alfred?" Gilbert muttered.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred is going to get some earache from Gil, especially when he finds out who 'Arthur' is....


	3. Vol III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred's friends are concerned....

 

**_**Vol III** _ **

  


A kiss from a demon should have been repelling but Arthur's heart beat wildly in his chest as Alfred's lips moved firmly over his. How could something so wrong seem so right!

Alfred felt Arthur's mouth under his and it felt like the Heaven he was now denied. He kissed deeper, not getting enough of the angel as he felt Arthur respond to him. Their lips clung together but, eventually, the kiss had to end.

Arthur felt the loss as Alfred's lips left his and his eyes fluttered open. He was dazed for a moment and then he realised he had just been kissed by a demon. Alfred watched Arthur's face as the realisation sank in and Arthur clapped his hand over his mouth, his bright green eyes wide with shock. Alfred smiled.

"Never been kissed by a demon before?" he said with a hint of laughter. Arthur scowled.

"Why on Earth did you do that?" he demanded. Although he was not sorry Alfred had, if he was completely truthful. Truth was, Alfred did not know why he did that. He had just been seized by a desire to kiss Arthur and he had to say, he was not sorry he had given in to the impulse.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just wanted to. Are you sorry?" Arthur did not answer and Alfred found that hopeful. Why, he did not know! It's not like he could have a relationship with Arthur, not with Arthur as a angel, at any rate and it would upset Matthew and damage their relationship if Alfred corrupted Arthur so why was he feeling this way?

"Are you still going to bring Matthew tomorrow?" Alfred was afraid he had blown his chance to see his brother by pushing Arthur too far. Arthur did consider calling the whole thing off, things were going to be awkward around Alfred now but he could not disappoint Matthew so he nodded.

"We'll be here," he promised. Alfred had seen Arthur mentally struggle with whether or not to still come and he breathed a sigh of relief when he acquiesced.

"Thank you!"

"I better get back," Arthur said. "Before my colleague wonders where I've gone."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Alfred replied.

He was already looking forward to it.

* * *

Arthur slipped back into the restaurant and joined Ludwig who was watching Romano and Feliciano bustle about the restaurant. The Germanic angel looked toward Arthur as he came to stand by his side.

"Why did you go out there?" he asked.

"I thought I sensed something," Arthur replied. "But there was no threat."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite sure," Arthur said. "Romano and Feliciano are safe for now." Ludwig nodded.

"I was thinking about Matthew's encounter with his demon brother," he ventured. "I was wondering if I should talk to him." Arthur looked at him.

"Because of your own brother?" he asked.

"I know how he's feeling right now," Ludwig said. "I thought I might be able to give him some advice about it." Arthur nodded, thoughtfully.

"Would you meet your brother if you could?"

"I don't know," Ludwig replied, honestly. "I would like to see Gilbert again but it might not be safe. You think Matthew's brother might try to see him?" Arthur shrugged.

"I know Matthew would like to see him," he replied, evasively. "I'll support him as back up if and when he does!" But Ludwig was not fooled.

"It's already been arranged, hasn't it!" he stated. Arthur sighed.

"It means a lot to Matthew," he replied. "I'm going to be there when they meet." Ludwig did not like this but it was Matthew and Arthur's decision.

"Be careful," he warned. "It could be a trap!"

"Don't worry," Arthur replied. "I won't take any chances!" But he was still thinking about that kiss!

* * *

Alfred glided through the sky, invisible to everyone below but not to a certain demon, flying after him. Gilbert shot up in front of him, causing Alfred to flap his wings furiously to avoid crashing into him.

"You must have an unawesome death wish," Gilbert said, serious for a change. "Kissing an angel! Do you have any idea what some of the other demons would do if they found out! Ivan would just love a chance to come after you. When you first came down, he believed you should have been one of his lackeys. It really miffed him when you wouldn't have anything to do with him!"

"I can't stand the bastard!" Alfred snorted.

"Who can!" Gilbert agreed. "But just tell me, if you're planning some kind of affair with this angel, tell me you plan to corrupt him and make him a demon." Alfred said nothing.

"Alfred!"

"It was just a kiss!" Alfred finally replied. "I can no more corrupt Arthur than I could corrupt Matthew." Gilbert blinked. Arthur, is it! Alfred might be unaware of it but he was already acting the newly smitten lover if he was already calling the angel by his name. Wait a minute? Arthur! _The_ Arthur!

"Not Arthur Kirkland, The Uncorrupted!" he exclaimed. Oh, this just got better and better! Alfred frowned.

"Who?"

"The one soul that stuffed Ivan's perfect corruption record," Gilbert replied. "Ivan always got every soul he went after and then he set his sights on Kirkland. Ivan told him that his younger brother, Peter would be in an accident and that if Kirkland sold his soul to him, he would prevent Peter dying but Kirkland didn't believe him. He thought Ivan was a lunatic and wouldn't entertain the idea. The accident happened but both Peter and Kirkland were caught up in it. Peter survived but Kirkland died with his soul untainted and he went to heaven because he deliberately took the worse of the accident to protect his brother. I heard that Ivan was so mad, Hell shook for a week after."

Gilbert had heard all the stories about that time. Those demons not wise enough to stay out of Ivan's path soon learnt the hard way. Ivan soon got back into the swing and never lost another soul but Arthur's escape still stung and Alfred was developing a fascination with the one angel guaranteed to send Ivan on a rampage.

"You need to stop before Ivan finds out about this," Gilbert warned. "He's already got it in for us for not joining him when we all came down. If he finds out that you're dallying with his one failure ….. "

"Arthur is arranging a meeting between me and Matthew ….."

"You don't need to snog him for that!"

Alfred blew out a exasperated breath. Gilbert might have a point but Alfred wanted to see his brother and, if he was honest, he wanted to see Arthur again as well. Far from putting Alfred off, Alfred wanted to get to know the only one to side-step Ivan. As Gilbert would say, that was awesome.

"Alfred," Gilbert said. "Tell me you're not going to pursue a romance with this angel. Ivan will kill you if he finds out and he'll do it with a smile on his face."

"IF I decide I want to do this," Alfred snapped. "It's my risk. I'm not asking anyone else to get involved." Gilbert could not believe Alfred was this naïve.

"Aren't you!" he replied. "You think Ivan will just come after you! Arthur would be his target too, not to mention Matthew!"

"He better not touch my brother!"

"Don't give him a reason!" Gilbert wished this was not happening with his friend. It was so unawesome and he did not want to see Alfred become another of Ivan's victims. Again.

"I'll help protect you while you see Matthew," Gilbert promised. "But please! No more! If you're not going to corrupt Kirkland, leave him alone!" Alfred had never seen his friend so serious before. Gilbert was normally always up for fun and mischief, seriousness was not in his vocabulary. To see him like this had to mean he was really concerned. So he nodded and Gilbert heaved a sigh of relief.

"Let's get back to Hell before anyone comes looking for us," he said and he and Alfred headed for the portal to Hell but the kiss still played on Alfred's mind.

* * *

"Hey, idiota!" Romano called as he put plates on the collection shelf. "Meals are ready for Table Two." Feliciano bounced across the kitchen and picked up the meals.

"Oki doki!" he said cheerfully and bounced out again. Ludwig still could not believe, despite the resemblance, the two were brothers, their personalities were such polar opposites but, if Ludwig were honest, he had seen signs that Romano did care about his brother.

"Don't stand there, idiota!" he shouted and shoved Feliciano out of the way. Ludwig saw that Romano had pushed Feliciano away from a pan spitting hot oil and had placed himself between his brother and the pan. It was deliberate and Ludwig began to see what Arthur had been talking about. Unfortunately, he was not the only one watching Romano.

Antonio peered in through the window of the kitchen, watching Romano bustling about, preparing food, his face red from the cooking heat, reminding Antonio of a tomato, his favourite food in life. Antonio had become fascinated with the older Italian brother and had begun to follow him but he ducked down when he spotted the arc-angel.

 __'_ So he has extra protection _ , _"_ Antonio thought. _' I'll just have to find a way to get my little tomate alone! "_ For now, he would leave before the arc-angel could sense him and, with one last look, he turned and flew off to Hell.

* * *

Francis knew something was going on with his friends. Not with Antonio, Francis knew he had his eye on the Italian. That was nothing out of the ordinary for a demon but ever since Alfred lost it after the battle with the two angels, both Alfred and Gilbert had been a little secretive. Francis decided to do a little digging and he had one word to go on. Matthew! The name of the angel he and Gilbert had been confronting that had been shouted by the other angel. The name of the angel Alfred did not want them corrupting.

He went to Hell's Hall of Records where, like in Heaven, there was a record of the life of everyone who was living or had lived on Earth and, there in Alfred's file, he found it. Matthew was Alfred's brother! No wonder Alfred did not want them corrupting that particular angel and Gilbert must somehow know. Why had they not told him and Antonio? He was sure that the Spanish demon was completely unaware and Francis was a little hurt that Alfred did not seem to trust him with this. He would never betray his friends but he figured that Alfred had his reasons.

At that moment, the subject of his musings flew down with Gilbert beside him. They landed next to Francis, Alfred, looking a little preoccupied and Gilbert, looking concerned.

"Problems, mes amis?" Francis asked. Gilbert gave a derisory laugh.

"Don't ask!" he advised. Francis turned to Alfred.

"Something to do with your brother, Matthew?" he just had to throw that out there. The effect was immediate as Alfred's head whipped round.

"How did you find out?" he demanded, Francis gave a dismissive wave.

"After your behaviour, did you think I wouldn't check the files, mon ami," he replied. "It's all there in black and white. You could have trusted me, you know!" Alfred looked apologetic.

"It wasn't a question of trust," he said. "If Ivan found out you knew something, who knows what he would have done to ….. Wait! If you can get that information from the files, so can he!"

"Never fear, mon frère," Francis reassured him. "I would not leave such dangerous information where Ivan could get it. Both your and Matthew's files are safe and sound!"

"Thanks, Dude!" Alfred breathed a sigh of relief. Gilbert gave a snort.

"The files are the least of his problems," he said. "Are you going to tell him or shall I?"

"Will you drop it?"

"Tell me what?" Francis asked. Gilbert looked around.

"Not here!" He took Francis and Alfred to his room, more dragged in Alfred's case.

"Alfred here has the hots for that angel he was fighting," Gilbert blurted out when the door was shut tight.

"Gilbert!" Alfred was not happy with the way Gilbert had just come out with it. Francis did not see what the problem was, it was not like such things had not happened before.

"Oh L'amour!" Francis gushed. "Don't worry, mon ami! We'll help you catch him and corrupt him, won't we, Gilbert!"

"He doesn't want to corrupt him," Gilbert revealed. "He wants that angel to stay his pure, untainted self."

"Mon Dieu! ( _Hell rumbled_ ) You can't be serious!" Gilbert gave an unamused smile.

"You haven't heard the most unawesome part yet," he said. "That angel was only Arthur, The Uncorrupted!"

"SACRED BLEU!" Francis could not believe his ears and turned to Alfred. "Do you want to die! AGAIN!" Alfred lost his temper.

"Yes!" he stormed. "I'm an idiot! Satisfied now! I said I won't get romantic with him, can we let it go now?" Alfred stalked out of the room with his two friends looking after him, worried.

"Will he leave well alone, mon frère?" Francis asked.

"He said he will," Gilbert replied. "But he may already be in too deep!"

* * *

Ivan watched from a distance as the three demon friends talked but he could not hear them from where he was. Then they suddenly went off somewhere private, Beilschmidt in particular was tense. Next time one of them left Hell, he would follow and find out just what they were hiding.

They should be his lackeys, his henchman! It was because of him that they were demons and they should be using their power for him, especially Jones! He was, by far, the strongest demon that Ivan had ever created and, with the Bad Touch Quartet in his corner, he could have made a bid for the Throne of Hell but Jones, that whining brat, took against him for his brother dying. Well, Ivan had only said he would save Matthew from dying of cancer, he never said that Matthew would not still die but Jones bore a grudge and joined forces with the then Bad Touch Trio. The now Bad Touch Quartet would love to bring him down and they could be planning this. A closer eye would be kept.

* * *

Arthur looked out of the restaurant window once more, looking for Alfred. That kiss had occupied his mind since it happened and he had to admit he had enjoyed it but was unsure what to do about it. Matthew was practically jumping out of his skin in anticipation of meeting his brother again and Ludwig watched them both, guessing that this was the day. He would not interfere but he just hoped that Arthur knew what he was doing as he approached him.

"They're meeting today, aren't they?" he asked. Arthur looked at Ludwig and then nodded. Ludwig sighed.

"Just be careful," he advised. Arthur promised that he would and looked out of the window again. Then he saw the demon standing on the corner and touched Matthew on the shoulder.

"He's here!"

Arthur nodded to Ludwig who nodded back and the two guardian angels left the restaurant. They made their way over to the corner where Alfred was waiting and he was not alone! Behind Alfred was another demon with white hair and white wings who seemed to be looking around at the surrounding area, as if keeping watch. His presence still made Arthur suspicious.

"I thought you were coming alone!" he said in distrust. Alfred held his hands up in a calm down gesture.

"Don't worry," he replied. "Gilbert is just here to watch our backs. There are some demons who would not be happy to know we're meeting like this." Gilbert turned and gave the group a smirk. Matthew gasped as he recognised the demon as one of those he had fought against. The one who kissed him.

"Chill, Birdie," he grinned. "I'm not after you this time." _Pity though,_ Gilbert thought. _He IS awesomely cute. Oh well!_

"Matthew!" Alfred could not believe his brother was finally in front of him. He walked up to the violet-eyed angel who he had not seen since his death. "Is that really you, bro?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Matthew replied, staring at Alfred's black hair. "You were blonde. What happened?" Alfred smiled.

"I didn't go to Hell willingly when I died," Alfred replied. "I didn't get what I sold my soul for and I fought Ivan when he tried to drag me there. My hair was a side effect of our fight which I obviously lost, due to the fact that Ivan had a lot of lackeys on his side." Alfred looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry, bro," he said. "I just wanted to save you. I ended up damning myself." Matthew sobbed and tackled his demon brother in a hug.

"You're an idiot," he wept. "You know that!" Alfred chuckled as he hugged Matthew back.

"That's been made obvious quite recently," he laughed. "I missed you, Matthew!"

"Missed you too, Alfred!"

Arthur and Gilbert kept watch as the two brothers reunited, on the lookout for a trap or anyone seeking to disrupt this meeting for various reasons, after all, neither side would be happy if they knew this was happening.

"So you're 'The Uncorrupted'," Gilbert smirked at the green-eyed angel.

"The Uncorrupted?" Arthur asked.

"Didn't you know?" Gilbert replied. "You're the only soul that Ivan failed to get so we call you 'The Uncorrupted'. He gave Hell Hell after that!"

"I'm guessing he wouldn't be very happy if he knew about all this," Arthur commented.

"Understatement!" Gilbert exclaimed. "Speaking of which, about you and Alfre..."

"Gilbert!" Alfred could hear his friend about to take Arthur to task over the kiss and he did not want that subject revisited. "Shouldn't you be on lookout?" Gilbert got the message and went to check out the area.

"What was that about?" Matthew asked.

"Just Gilbert being a worry wart," Alfred replied. "There's one demon in particular who would just love to catch us meeting like this. He doesn't like us and we don't like him."

"Ivan?" Arthur asked. Alfred gave a smirk.

"Yep!" he replied. "Others wouldn't like it either. One of the reasons we need to be careful. Ivan wouldn't hesitate to target you or Matthew to get at me. We particularly hate each other."

"Does that mean we can't meet up again?" Matthew asked. He did not want to lose his brother again, he did not care if he was a demon.

"We'll find a way," Alfred promised. "I just got you back, Matthew, I'm not giving you up now. But, like I said, we need to be careful. Arthur, meet me later! To arrange another meeting." Arthur was not sure about this but he nodded.

"We better get back to our charges," he said to Matthew. "Ludwig will be getting worried." Gilbert's head whipped round.

"Ludwig's here!" he exclaimed. Arthur took a guess.

"You're his brother, aren't you?" he asked. Gilbert nodded.

"He was young when I died in the war," he replied. "I haven't seen him since but I have heard that he's a arc-angel now."

"He is," Arthur said. "He'll meet you if you want to!" Gilbert looked like he might say yes but then shook his head.

"Nein," he replied. "I don't want him to see me as an unawesome demon. Alfred, we better go." Alfred gave his brother another hug and turned to Arthur.

"I'll be here later," he said. "After dark, Matthew, stay safe, bro." Matthew nodded and Alfred turned and followed Gilbert. Arthur and Matthew watched them leave and then returned to the restaurant, not realising that someone else was watching too.

* * *

Ivan observed the group break up, which included his one defeat. So Jones and Beilschmidt were fraternizing with angels, were they. He had also recognised the other angel as Alfred's brother which might explain his involvement and Gilbert would naturally help his friend but still, consorting with angels!

But Ivan would not move on them yet. He would bide his time.

And let them hang themselves!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : Meetings and confrontations.


	4. Vol IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Feliciano and Romano get some dangerous attention …..

 

**_**Vol IV** _ **

 

Alfred waited at the same spot for Arthur to return after he and Matthew escorted Feliciano and Romano to their home and made sure they were settled for the night. Demons were like the fictional vampire, unable to enter a human's home without an invitation but the same was true of angels too, the only exceptions were being invited in or death of the soul under protection. Human homes were human territory so once a human entered his home to stay, that was basically a guardian angel's 'knock off work' time but a guardian angel would know if his ward left his home for any reason which meant it was a good thing that angels did not need to sleep, in case their ward decided to go for a midnight wander.

As he waited, Alfred pondered his attraction to the green-eyed angel and what it meant for him. He said he would not start anything with Arthur but he was not sure he could keep that promise, especially as he would come into contact with him constantly if he continued to meet with Matthew. There was something about the angel that attracted him and it went beyond simple lust. He wanted to get to know 'The Uncorrupted', the one who had escaped Ivan's tainting clutches. That was impressive.

Then he saw Arthur flying toward him, his white feathered wings outspread. Alfred thought it was the most beautiful sight in this world and the next as Arthur swooped in and expertly landed in front of the demon.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming," Alfred commented.

"I was delayed by the Higher Ups," Arthur replied. "Speaking of which, Matthew won't be able to see you tomorrow. The Higher Ups found out about you meeting with him and want to talk to him about it." Alfred had a pang of worry.

"Will they stop him from seeing me?"

"No," Arthur replied. "They're not happy about it but they can't stop Matthew if he really wants to see you. That's his choice. They're just worried about him."

"I'd never harm my brother!" Alfred said, adamantly. "Believe me!"

Arthur did believe Alfred. His appearance was so at odds with his attitude, so caring of his brother. It could be an act but Arthur did not think so. Why was such a person a demon? Someone who was willing to sacrifice everything to save his brother, it was just wrong!

"You don't belong in Hell," he commented. Alfred shrugged.

"Yet, that's where I am," he said. "I made my mistake, it can't be changed." Arthur was not so sure. He would do some research about it, surely something can be done. Alfred should not be a demon!

"If you could," Arthur asked. "Would you leave Hell for Heaven?" Alfred shrugged.

"Never thought about it," he replied. "It would never happen anyway. Nothing will change the fact that I'm a demon!"

"How many souls have you corrupted?"

"What?"

"Souls," Arthur repeated. "How many have you corrupted?" Alfred went a little red.

"I haven't been a demon very long," he replied, evasively.

"You haven't corrupted anyone, have you?" Alfred went redder and looked away nervously.

That might be something in his favour when Arthur spoke to his superiors about Alfred. If there was anything that could be done, an empty corruption record could only help and Arthur prayed that there was something they could do.

"So, would you come to Heaven if you could?" he asked, again. Alfred thought about it. There were reasons to stay in Hell, like the rest of The Bad Touch Quartet but there were reasons to go to Heaven too. His heart was not really into corrupting the innocent and, besides, Matthew was in Heaven. And Arthur.

"I might," he admitted. Arthur smiled and Alfred wondered why Arthur was so happy about it.

"Why is that so important to you?" he asked. This time Arthur blushed.

"No real reason," he replied, defensively. "I just don't think you should be in Hell." But Alfred smiled.

"You sure that's the only reason?" he asked and move toward the bushy-eyebrowed angel. Arthur moved back slightly but not enough to avoid Alfred's lips closing over his. Arthur did not fight it, instead, his arms came up to encircle Alfred's neck and hold him closer, even though a part of him was saying, __What are you doing?!_ _ Alfred's kiss was so warm, so thrilling, so _angelic!_

Alfred had acted on instinct again, just giving in to the whim of feeling Arthur's lips on his. He put his arms around the angel's waist and held Arthur tight against him. It felt like he belonged right there. He knew that it was stupid. He was a demon, Arthur was an angel and never the twain shall meet but he could not stay away from him. Alfred already had the feeling that he was already in over his head with Arthur.

Then so be it! The kiss got deeper but eventually it ended but Alfred was reluctant to let go of Arthur and Arthur was in no hurry to leave Alfred's arms.

"What are we doing?" Arthur breathed, almost to himself. Alfred chuckled as he rested his chin on top of Arthur's head.

"I don't know," he replied, honestly. "If other demons knew about this, their reaction would be …..well, let's say, it wouldn't be pretty, particularly Braginski's but, whatever this is, I don't want to give it up."

"I can't imagine that my superiors would be happy, either," Arthur admitted. "Angel and demon brothers meeting is one thing. Angel and demon lovers, quite another!" Alfred smiled.

"What they don't know won't hurt them then?" and he kissed Arthur again.

* * *

Jones was missing again. He was gone before Ivan realised that he was absent so he had no idea where the American demon had gone to this time. Beilschmidt was over with his other two friends, Carriedo and Bonnefoy so it could not be another meeting. It infuriated him that they had been meeting Kirkland, of all angels. He would have been Ivan's crowning achievement. Heaven had already had their eyes on the aloof but caring Brit and Ivan would have loved to steal him from under their noses.

But Arthur Kirkland had dismissed Ivan as a lunatic. Ivan tried everything to get Kirkland to acquiesce before the dead-line but Kirkland avoided him whenever he could and then Honda had interfered. The day of the accident, as the truck bore down on their car, Kirkland had thrown his body over Peter and he had been killed outright but his body had protected Peter enough for him to survive and Kirkland had a straight path to Heaven for sacrificing himself to save his brother. Kirkland went to Heaven, secure in the knowledge that Peter was safe and well in the bosom of a new family. Friends from the Nordic countries.

Ivan's greatest failure had always played on his mind and the idea that a demon he had created was consorting with Kirkland was an insult he would not let pass. He would gather his forces and bide his time. Who knows! If he did this right, maybe he would get Kirkland too.

He flew over to the other three members of The Bad Touch Quartet who saw him coming and fell silent.

"Privet (Hello), comrades," the Russian demon greeted with his disturbing smile. "And where is our American friend, Alfred?" Beilschmidt snorted.

"He's not your friend," he replied. "And what are we, his keepers?" Ivan frowned at Beilschmidt's tone while Carriedo put his hand on Beilschmidt's arm in a 'stop it' motion.

"You should show more respect," Ivan said with a dark aura. "I'm the one who made you what you are."

"Ja!" Beilschmidt replied, sarcastically. "Thanks for that!" Now Bonnefoy was giving Beilschmidt meaningful looks to stop baiting Ivan.

Gilbert knew he was pushing Ivan but he was so angry about refusing to meet with Ludwig, he wanted to take it out on the one person he blamed for it. If not for Ivan, he would not have been a demon and he could be with his brother now. Ivan just gave his creepy smile. The Bad Touch Quartet could disrespect him all they like but soon he would find out what their secret was and then...

He would make them all pay!

* * *

"Are you insane, amigo?" Antonio exclaimed after Ivan left. "None of us like Ivan but we're in no position to challenge him and his clique."

"Antonio is right, mon ami," Francis concurred. "Why were you trying to anger Ivan like that? For that matter, both you and Alfred have been acting aggressively toward Ivan. What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Gilbert insisted. "I'm just sick of that unawesome psycho sticking his over-sized nose in our business, waiting for us to slip up so he can pounce on us... "

"So," Francis said. "Don't slip up! Just watch your step around Ivan. Both of you.”

"Don't worry!" Gilbert replied. "We're fine!"

"Then why have you and Alfred been acting so oddly?" Antonio asked, the only one still clueless about Alfred. "First, Alfred makes us let those angels go, then he attacks Francis over one of them. And you and Alfred have been disappearing for periods of time! What's going on, Gilbert?"

"Nothing!" Gilbert replied. "Just forget about it! Everything's fine." Gilbert walked away. Antonio looked at Francis.

"Something's going on!" Antonio murmured.

Francis did not reply.

* * *

"I've been hearing all about you," Alfred said to Arthur. "How you managed to evade Ivan when you were alive. The Uncorrupted!"

Arthur smiled as they walked along, his white plumage contrasting with Alfred's leathery membranes. They were walking in a deserted area, not wanting to be seen by either demon or angel while Arthur looked at Alfred and realised that could have been him.

There but for the grace of God go I!

"I was lucky," he admitted. "Ivan pretended to be a psychic who had a 'vision' of the accident and, fortunately, I was very sceptical of such things but I had a friend, a Japanese man named Kiku Honda who claimed that Ivan was not to be trusted. Kiku, it turned out was _my_ guardian angel. I agreed with Kiku and avoided Ivan. Had I taken Ivan seriously, I may very well have made the deal you made. Like you, I would done anything to save my brother, little brat though he was!"

"He's dead?" Alfred asked. "Is he an angel?" Arthur shook his head.

"Peter's still alive," he replied. "I look in on him every now and then. He was twelve when I died, seventy-nine years ago. He was adopted by a Swede and his Finnish husband and he grew up and began working on a sea platform. He's ninety-one now but still has a few years before his time runs out. His adoptive parents, Berwald and Tino, are angels now and they'll go with me and his guardian angel to collect him when his time comes."

"He's lived a long life," Alfred commented.

"And a full one!" Arthur replied. "He's a grandfather of six and a great grandfather of two, I couldn't have wished better for him. I'm eternally grateful to Berwald and Tino for what they did for him."

"I'm glad you believed your guardian angel about Ivan," Alfred said. "He wasn't far off, either. Trust me, even in Hell, he's a psycho!"

"I'll be sure to steer clear of him then," Arthur replied.

"Good idea!" Alfred concurred. "I don't want him getting his hands on you. Will you be able to meet me tomorrow?" Arthur shook his head.

"With Matthew absent tomorrow, I have to watch over both Feliciano and Romano," he told Alfred. "I won't be able to get away until they return home." Arthur did not mention that Ludwig would not be there either. He was seeing the Higher-Ups too, about watching out for Matthew if he insisted on continuing to see his brother. Alfred nodded.

"Then I guess I'll see ya the day after," he said and gave Arthur a soft kiss. Then a firmer one.

"I'll look forward to it," Arthur replied. Alfred gave him a smile, then turned and left, looking back at Arthur as he flew away.

Part of Arthur was telling himself _This is stupid!_ Another part of him was excited to see Alfred again.

* * *

The next day, Romano and Feliciano wandered around the market, selecting the best ingredients they could find for the restaurant. Arthur stood nearby, unseen by all, as he watched over the Vargas Brothers. He was on his own today while Matthew and Ludwig were talking to the Higher-Ups about the situation with Alfred and, as the brothers moved from stall to stall, looking over the wares, Arthur's eyes moved round, looking for threats to the souls in his care. This became a problem when the brothers split up, Feliciano in search of pasta ingredients, Romano in search of tomatoes.

Arthur looked between the two, unsure of what to do! Feliciano was a complete innocent which was a big draw for demons. On the other hand, Romano was his actual ward. Which one did he shadow? Then he sensed something that took the decision out of his hands.

There was a demon nearby, a strong one so Arthur summoned his bow and began looking round himself. The demon seemed to moving around and Arthur got the uncomfortable feeling that he was being toyed with and then the feeling settled behind him and he spun round, coming face to face with the one demon he had never wanted to see again. Ivan stood there, his tail swishing about and his wings out stretched. None of the humans around them noticed the angel or the lavender winged demon facing off. Ivan had been following Antonio and Francis and, although they had not made contact with the guardian angel, they led Ivan to him and he decided to amuse himself at Arthur's expense.

"Privet, Arthur," the demon greeted, almost pleasantly which Arthur found disturbing. "It's been a long time, has it not!" Arthur pulled back his arrow.

"Not long enough," he replied, aiming the arrow at Ivan's heart. The demon just continued to smile at the defensive angel.

"That's not very nice, moy drug ( _my friend_ )," Ivan commented and Arthur laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he mocked. "I'm not sure of the etiquette when greeting someone who tried to cheat me out of my soul." Ivan shrugged.

"I'm a demon," he replied, matter-of-factly, like he was admitting to being a postman. "That's our nature, our Modus Operandi! Do you condemn a bird when it flies or a fish when it swims?"

"I know how you operate, Ivan," Arthur said. "You specialise in corrupting souls in ways that would normally make them angels. That's not your 'Modus Operandi', that's just for your own sick pleasure!" A dark aura fell over Ivan.

"You only escaped me through sheer luck," he warned. "And your former guardian is not here. I can still get you any time I want!" Arthur raised his arrow from Ivan's heart to his head.

"Not if you're dead!" he retorted.

* * *

Romano wandered the market place, examining the fruit and vegetables on offer, especially the tomatoes when he collided with someone and found himself on the ground at the person's feet.

"Lo siento, amigo!" a Spanish voice apologised and Romano looked up into a pair of forest-green eyes in a tanned face, framed with dark hair. Romano had to admit the man was quite good-looking as he held out his hand to help Romano up.

Antonio could not believe his luck when he found Romano unattended by his guardian angel but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth so he hid his wings, tail and horns, made himself visible, wearing dark brown trousers with a light brown t-shirt and deliberately stepped in the way of Romano so he would run into him, in order to get the Italian's attention. He held out his hand to help the young man up but Romano ignored it and got up on his own.

"I'm not helpless, idiota," he snapped. "Why don't you look where you're going, ah?" Feliciano was always telling him that he should be friendlier to people and employed what he called 'Hug Therapy' whenever he was not but Romano did not trust people at first sight. He felt that many just wanted something from him and, when they got it, they would just dump him so he treated them with disdain until he could trust them but, by that time, people had gone, put off by his prickly attitude.

"Lo siento," Antonio said, again. "I was distracted, looking at the _tomate._ They look especially good today, Si?" Romano cast his eyes over the plump, round, red fruits.

"They're okay, I suppose," he replied, grudgingly. Antonio held out his hand.

"I'm Antonio," he introduced himself. "I'm from Spain."

"Never would have guessed!" Romano said, sarcastically and ignored the out-stretched hand. "I'm Romano. No need to tell you where I'm from, Tomato Bastard!" Romano hoped this Antonio would get the message and push off but Antonio seemed oblivious to Romano's unfriendly nature as he continued the conversation.

"Si, I've seen you before," Antonio replied. "You run that restaurant, Paradiso Italiano _._ I've heard it has the best food around so I'll have to come and try it some time. I guess that's why you're here, buying ingredients? If you like, I can give you a hand, I've nothing better to do, right now!" Romano's first impulse was to tell this Spaniard to f*@k off but he was pretty attractive, not that Romano had any intention of starting anything with the Tomato Bastard but a few hours in his company might be nice.

"Whatever!" Romano said. "It's your time you'll waste, Jerk" The Spaniard smiled and Romano walked away with an ecstatic demon in tow. Antonio had managed to get in with Romano, now it was only a matter of time before the irascible Italian became his.

* * *

Arthur was debating what to do. Ivan, he knew from reputation, was a powerful demon and whether or not Arthur could take him down was debatable but one thing Arthur knew was he could not fight him here. Mortals might not be able to see the fight but they could still be affected by an angel and a demon having a smack-down in their midst so he had to take this somewhere unpopulated and, spreading his wings, he shot into the air, Ivan right behind him. When they were far above the crowd, angel and demon once again faced each other, wings flapping to keep them airborne. Ivan produced his weapon of choice, a long pipe with, what looked like, a tap on the end as Arthur aimed at him once more.

"Why not just become one with me?" Ivan said. "Like you were always meant to. You would make a fine demon, da?" Arthur snorted.

"I'm happy the way I am, thanks," he replied, sarcastically but Ivan just laughed.

"You talk like you have a choice, comrade," he chuckled and flew at Arthur who fired his arrow. So fast it was a blur, Ivan somehow managed to strike the arrow with his pipe, knocking it away from him, as he shot toward Arthur who stopped flapping his wings and dropped, Ivan flying over his head. Arthur stretched out his wings to catch the breeze again and flapped to arrest his descent. The arrow appeared in the bow again and Arthur turned to fire at Ivan again. Ivan saw the arrow coming toward him and performed a complexed mid-air pirouette to avoid it. Then he was flying down at Arthur who shot upwards. Ivan almost crashed into the crowds below before stopping himself and Arthur realised that he had to take this fight further away, preferably to a deserted area so he fled in the direction of where he knew of some wasteland.

Ivan followed in pursuit.

* * *

Francis was immediately drawn to the bundle of sunshine that was Feliciano as he moved from trader to trader, collecting ingredients for pasta for the restaurant. Such a sweet, innocent boy! He would be fun to corrupt!

With his tail, horns and wings hidden, he approached the Italian, plucking a rose from a flower stall (still invisible so the stall owner did not see him and he did not have to pay. _Tight-wad!_ ) and came to stand behind Feliciano as he was looking at some herbs.

"Bonjour, mon chèr!" Francis greeted after making himself visible. Feliciano turned to find a blonde-haired man, wearing red trousers and a blue shirt, standing behind him. He had blue eyes and a stubbly beard, handsome but slightly invasive, even to Feliciano who had been told that he had no concept of personal space. The man presented the rose to Feliciano who took it, tentatively.

"Ciao," he replied, holding the rose to his nose as if to smell it but really to hide the sudden nervousness this man evoked in him. Feliciano was the friendly sort, too friendly some would say, but this man was making him very wary.

"What is such a beau jeune homme ( _handsome young man_ ) like you doing all alone?" Francis was enjoying how flustered he was making the little Italian as he stepped closer while the young man blushed red. Francis loved to seduce his prey. In his mind, the pleasure he gave was some compensation for getting them to sell their souls to him. Of course, he got the pleasure as well.

"My fratello is nearby," Feliciano replied, hoping that would get this man to back off but he seemed persistent as he smiled down at Feliciano.

"So there are two like you," Francis, of course, already knew that as he began to stroke Feliciano's shoulder almost lovingly, making the Italian more nervous. "What's your name, mon amour?"

"Feliciano," Feliciano replied and then mentally kicked himself for answering as the man's hand shifted to his back and began moving downwards. "Please! Bad touchy!" The man did not seem to hear him.

"Perhaps we could go somewhere," Francis said. "And you can tell me about yourself, Little Feli." And his hand reached Feliciano's butt.

"Please! Stop!" Feliciano plead as the man leant in closer as if he was going to kiss him. Then suddenly, the man was ripped away and thrown against the stall behind.

"HE SAID STOP!"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : Arthur and Ivan face off and there's another unexpected meeting.


	5. Vol V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting was bound to happen ….

 

** _**Vol V** _ **

  
  


Feliciano turned toward his rescuer with the German accent and saw the most handsome man that he had ever seen. Blonde, slicked-back hair, baby-blue eyes and muscles, lots of muscles. He looked, to Feliciano, like a warrior angel and Feliciano had no idea how close he was to the truth.

Ludwig had not had to meet with the Higher-Ups for long, as it had happened. Just long enough to be told the change in his duties. Matthew was insisting on being allowed to see his brother so Ludwig's duties now included working with Arthur to watch over Matthew whenever he met his demon sibling as Matthew was one of the purest souls to ever come to Heaven and his loss would be a great blow. Just as Toris was.

Ludwig wondered if this would bring him into contact with Gilbert and then wondered if this would be a good or a bad thing. He envied Matthew's contact with Alfred and he wished him well with that but if Ludwig should meet Gilbert, what would he say to him? They were brothers, yes, but they were also arc-angel and demon. Arthur had told him that Gilbert was ashamed to meet him because of what Gilbert had become but Ludwig knew Gilbert's reason for selling his soul and he was rather proud of his bruder's selfless action, despite the consequences.

If Ludwig and Gilbert met, they would deal with that when they came to it. For now, Ludwig had his duty to perform so he made his way to where he could sense the Vargas Brothers and, when he arrived, he found a scene that made his blood boil. Feliciano was trapped against a market stall by a demon, masquerading as a mortal who was, to all intents and purposes, groping him and Feliciano was not welcoming the demon's attentions at all. The demon's true nature might be hidden from the mortals around him but it could not be hidden from an angel. The wings, horns and tail could still be seen, transparent but still there.

But how to deal with this problem? The demon was visible to those around him so Ludwig could not fight him as an angel. A man suddenly being attacked, as if by a ghost, would attract unwelcome attention so there was only one way Ludwig could handle this. He landed, hid his wings, transform his clothes to non-descriptive jeans and t-shirt and made himself visible. He approached both demon and human as Feliciano begged the blonde demon to stop but the demon just pressed on, leaning down to kiss Feliciano. Ludwig put himself between the two beings and shoved the blonde demon hard and the demon fell backwards against a stall and, when he had recovered, looked up at him.

"HE SAID STOP!" Francis, like Ludwig, could tell what really stood before him. Not just an angel but an arc-angel. An angry arc-angel. Ludwig was furious that this perverted Hell-dweller had put his hands on such an innocent soul. Not just any innocent soul but  _ Feliciano _ ! The poor boy was still shaking at the encounter and that made Ludwig more angry. Feliciano was all happy sunshine and anything that made that sunshine dim did not sit well with the arc-angel.

"I suggest you leave," he warned. "And learn that no means no!" Ludwig was not just talking about the unwanted attention, he was putting the demon on notice that Feliciano's soul was off-limits. Francis looked around and found that people had begun to stare at him and decided that now was not a good time to press the matter. Besides, he did not really want to face off against an arc-angel. He gave a elaborate bow.

"Au revoir, mon chèr," he said and disappeared into the crowd. Ludwig turned to Feliciano.

"Are you all right?" he asked. Feliciano nodded with a relieved look on his face.

"Si," he replied. "Grazie! I'm Feliciano Vargas." Feliciano wanted to know more about his handsome rescuer and he was afraid the man might disappear, never to be seen again so he wanted to prolong this meeting.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt," the blonde man replied. Feliciano enthusiastically shook his hand.

"Let me take you to lunch," he begged. "I want to thank you for what you did just now." Ludwig shook his head.

"That's not necessary," he assured the Italian but Feliciano was insistent.

"Please!" he plead with a face that no one, mortal or angel could say no to. "Just let me find my fratello and we can go. Please let me thank you!" Ludwig sighed and gave in. Feliciano gave a 'Yay!' and began dragging the Germanic arc-angel with him as he searched for his brother. Following the cute little Italian, Ludwig had one thought on his mind.

_ Where on Earth was Arthur? _

* * *

Arthur could not help but cry out as he was slammed into the ground of the deserted dockside by Ivan. The demon was stronger than him, like he had suspected, and had gotten the upper hand all too soon for Arthur's liking. Ivan straddled the guardian angel, holding his hands over his head with his pipe to prevent Arthur from aiming the bow.

"Just surrender, Arthur," Ivan said, pleasantly. "It will be much more pleasant for you if you do. I can see you now, with horns and devil wings. Perhaps with a different hair colour, I think red would suit you quite well." Arthur tried to throw him off to no avail and Ivan's amusement.

"Trying to make up for your one failure," Arthur taunted. "Want to capture 'The Uncorrupted'! That's what you demons call me, isn't it?" A dark aura fell over Ivan's eyes as Arthur smirked at him.

"You only escaped me because …..."

"I thought you were a madman? Wasn't far off the mark, was I?"

In a fit of rage, Ivan had reared back to swing the pipe down on Arthur's head when Arthur brought his bow round to fire and Ivan leapt off Arthur to one side, realising that the angel had deliberately taunted him to make him lose his temper and make a mistake. Inwardly, Ivan applauded the angel for taking advantage of Ivan's emotions to free himself as Arthur leapt to his feet and backed away, with the bow aimed at Ivan again. What a sweet demon he would make! And, perhaps the one who could be at Ivan's side. Ivan was even more determined to get Arthur now!

"You will be mine, angel," Ivan promised. "You will be my greatest achievement. After all, you're not my failure, you're my challenge and one that I will meet and I swear that you will stand at my side!"

"No way in Heaven or Hell!" Arthur swore and fired his arrow. Ivan moved but, even so, he felt the arrow whistle past his hair as it flew past. Ivan smiled at Arthur's failure.

"You missed again, little angel," he teased and then he realised that Arthur was also smiling.

"Did I?" The was an ominous creak and the sound of twisting and straining metal. Arthur moved away as the small, loading crane that had been hit by Āsā's arrow, it's heavenly power taking out a main support strut, fell like a tree. Directly on top of Ivan!

Arthur took to the air as Ivan flailed under the twisted metal, taking the chance to run. Although, a crane landing on Ivan would not kill him, it would hold the demon down for a while and it would give Arthur time to escape. This was a new complication he did not need and it could put Alfred and Matthew at risk if Ivan had his sights set on Arthur, to say nothing of Feliciano and Romano. A meeting with higher authority was definitely in order.

Arthur flew back to the market.

* * *

Romano was having a good time with the Spaniard, to his surprise. No matter what he called Antonio, the Spaniard just took it in his stride. The only other person Romano knew who could stand his name-calling was Feliciano who never took the names seriously. This guy was either oblivious or ignoring his name-calling, carrying packages without complaint and chatting about tomatoes and, of all things, turtles. Seems he had a fondness for them.

"Hey, Tomato Bastard," Romano called. "I suppose I better thank you for the help so how about we go back to the restaurant and I'll make a meal for you. Just to say thank you, don't go getting any ideas!" Antonio grinned.

"Oh Si!" he replied. "So kind of you, thank you!" Romano just grunted and began looking for Feliciano. Antonio followed Romano as he weaved in and out of the crowd, checking all the stalls that sold pasta ingredients, looking for his little brother.

"Ve~ FRATELLO!" came Feliciano's voice across the market and a hand could be seen waving above the head of the other people. As the crowd parted, Feliciano came into view, followed by a tall, blonde-haired man in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Just get over here, idiota," Romano ordered. Feliciano hurried over with the blonde man who took one look at Antonio and froze. Romano looked round at Antonio who had the same expression on his face too. Antonio could see that the man in front of him was not only an angel but an arc-angel. He was safe while they were around the Vargas Brothers, masquerading as mortals but the moment they were gone, all bets would be off.

"You two bastards know each other?" Romano asked as they glared daggers at other another.

"Nein!" the blonde replied in a German accent. Ludwig wondered what was going on? It was like there was a infestation of demons in the area but he could not do anything about it with the Vargas Brothers here.

"Ve~ Romano!" Feliciano was oblivious to the tension between the two men. "This is Ludwig! He saved me from some touchy-feely guy so I invited him for lunch. Can he come, Fratello? Can he? Can he? Can he?" Romano just rolled his eyes.

"If it'll get you to shut up the hell up, then okay," he conceded. "This is Antonio! He's been helping me to shop so he'll be coming too. Tomato Bastard, this is my idiota little fratello, Feliciano, and his new friend, probably another idiota! Well, let's get going!" He turned and began walking, followed by Feliciano with a tense atmosphere created by the arc-angel and demon bringing up the rear.

* * *

Francis returned to Hell, cursing the intervention of the arc-angel. If not for him, that cute little Italian would be his new little territory now and he was in a foul mood but soon he found that someone was in a fouler one. Hell rumbled and _kolkolkolkolkol_ could be heard in time with the tremors so Francis knew that Ivan was unhappy. Alfred and Gilbert came up to see what was happening as the Russian demon swept passed, a dark aura surrounding him and all other demons jumping out of his way. One was not fast enough and got smacked into the middle of next week.

"He's pissed!" Alfred stated the obvious. "I wonder what fire-imp flew up his ass, this time?"

"Same thing as last time, from what I heard," came a voice behind them. They turned to see Vladimir, a red winged and horned Romanian demon with strawberry-blonde hair, red eyes and fangs.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked, worried. From what he heard, the last thing that set Ivan off like this was …..

"Apparently, he went after the Uncorrupted," Vladimir replied. "A bit of a fight and the Uncorrupted somehow managed to drop a crane on him and got away from him again. Needless to say, Ivan's not happy." He went on his way. Alfred went in the direction of the Gates of Hell, followed by Francis and Gilbert.

"Mon ami, where are you going?" Francis demanded. Alfred never broke stride.

"I gotta make sure he's okay!" he replied. Gilbert tried to make him stop.

"You heard Vladimir!" he exclaimed. "He escaped! Again!" Alfred shook his head.

"Doesn't mean he wasn't hurt," he pointed out. "I gotta know!" And he flew through the Gates of Hells. Francis gave a long suffering sigh and he and Gilbert flew after him.

* * *

Arthur traced the Vargas Brothers back to the restaurant but when he got there, he saw a scene he would never have expected. Ludwig sat at one of the tables in human form (although Arthur could still see his wings), sitting down to a meal with the two Italians and a demon that Arthur recognised as the one that had been fighting alongside Alfred. The one with an interest in Romano.

What was Ludwig doing? He was suppose to protect Romano from this demon and they were all eating together? What was going on? He managed to catch Ludwig's eye and he gave a slight nod to indicate that he knew he was there. Antonio saw Arthur too and began to feel outnumbered but he could hardly call foul. After all, it had been four against two when he had fought Arthur and the other angel.

"Who was this touchy-feely bastard?" Romano asked as he brought out pasta for himself and Feliciano, paella for Antonio and sausage and potatoes for Ludwig who was now dubbed 'the Potato Bastard' by Romano.

"Ve~ I don't know!" Feliciano replied. "He was blonde with blue eyes and a beard. He just started touching me and he wouldn't stop until Ludwig made him." Antonio inwardly groaned. That sounded like Francis, up to his old seduction tricks again. It was hard to believe that, in life, he had been a faithful husband.

"Thanks, Potato Bastard," Romano said to Ludwig. "This idiota would never have gotten out of it on his own. He's too soft-hearted to do what needs to be done."

"And what would you have done?" Ludwig asked. Romano shrugged.

"Kicked him in the nuts," he replied, casually wrapping pasta around his fork, not noticing both angel and demon wincing and crossing their legs. Arthur cringed too and Antonio thought his friend had dodged a bullet by picking the younger brother to approach.

"Ve~ where are you from, Ludwig?" Feliciano asked. Ludwig chewed his bite of food and swallowed.

"Berlin, originally," he answered. "Then I've drifted about. I don't know how long I'll be here for, I'm dealing with some business right now." And he gave Antonio a meaningful stare.

"What about you, Antonio?"

"I'm from Madrid," Antonio replied. "Just wandering the world to see what I can find. I never expected to find someone like Romano." Ludwig gave the demon a hard stare while Romano blushed at Antonio's statement and stood up, taking everybody's empty plates.

"Hey, idiota," he said to Feliciano. "Give me a hand and we'll get dessert." Feliciano picked up the rest of the plates and followed Romano into the kitchen. Antonio was nervous at the thought at being alone with the two angels.

"What are you doing here, demon?" Arthur demanded. "Are you stalking my charge because I will fight to protect him and his brother."

"As will I," Ludwig concurred. "You will get neither soul, that I swear!" Antonio gave a little smile.

"I just ran into Romano at the market," he replied, with a child-like innocence. "And he invited me to lunch. How could I refuse an invitation from a cute,  _ unprotected _ , little tomate like Romano?" Arthur went red with anger.

"Did you ask the Soul Thief to run interference for you, git?" he demanded. "Did you tell him to fight me?" Antonio's face fell.

"Ivan's here!" he blurted. Arthur took that to mean that Antonio had nothing to do with Ivan's attack on him. "Ivan's nothing to do with me! You would never find me working with Ivan!"

"What's this about the Soul Thief?" Ludwig demanded. "Was he there?" Arthur nodded.

"He was in the market," he replied. "I had to lead him away and battle him by the docks. I barely got away and when I saw him here," indicating Antonio, "I assumed Ivan was working with him to get me out of the way." A dark aura appeared around Antonio.

"Don't put me down as one of his lackeys!" he insisted. "I would never work with the demon who robbed me of my soul!" Arthur saw the light but before he could ask Antonio what had happened to him, there was sounds coming from the kitchen and they stopped talking as Romano and Feliciano came back out, bringing dessert.

"Ve~ Who wants gelato?"

* * *

Followed by Gilbert and Francis, Alfred flew toward the  Paradiso _ Italiano, _ desperate to see if Arthur was all right. He did not know if Arthur was there, it was just a place to start looking. All he knew was Arthur had escaped from Ivan but Ivan's targets rarely escaped unscathed. Unseen by the people below, the three demons glided over the buildings and circled down toward the restaurant. Alfred landed and ran to the window, looking in and he was relieved to see Arthur there, looking unhurt but he was met with a scene he was not expecting.

Antonio, masquerading as a mortal, was sat down to a meal with an arc-angel who had his back to the window, also masquerading as a mortal, with the two souls the Bad Touch Quartet had attempted to take from Arthur and Matthew. Arthur hovered in the background, invisible to the two mortals in the room as the other four ate ice-cream.

"Sacred Bleu!" Francis swore as he came up behind Alfred and observed the cosy little scene.

"What's that dumbkopf doing?" Gilbert cursed.

* * *

Arthur spotted Alfred, accompanied by Gilbert and that blonde demon, looking in through the window at them. When his eyes met Arthur's, he looked relieved but that look turned to shock when he saw the other demon sat down with Ludwig and the Vargas Brothers. The other two demons were stunned too as the four diners finished their gelato.

"I have to be going now," Antonio announced, standing up and wanting to get out of the restaurant and away from these two angels. He had also spotted his friends outside the window and wanted to get to a place where the odds were better.

"I must leave too," Ludwig added. Feliciano quickly picked up a napkin, found a pen and jotted down his cell phone number. He handed it to Ludwig with a hopeful look on his face.

"Ve~ We should do this again," he insisted. "Call me when you want to." Ludwig put the napkin into his pocket.

"I will!" he promised. Antonio turned to Romano with a hopeful look.

"You're not getting my number, Tomato Bastard!" Romano said, adamantly. "You want to see me again, you can come here!" Antonio gave a sensual smile.

"Is that an invitation?" he purred, leaning closer. Romano stuck his hand on Antonio's face and pushed him away.

"Just get out of here!" he ordered and Antonio headed for the door, followed by Ludwig and an invisible Arthur but not before he turned to grace Romano with a smile that left him blushing like a  _ tomato. Ludwig _ gave him a push to get him out of the door, Arthur bringing up the rear.

"Ve~ Do you think they'll be back, Romano?" Feliciano asked.

"Who cares!" Romano replied. But he did care! He cared very much, although he would bite his own tongue off before admitting it!

* * *

Once outside, both Antonio and Ludwig took their respective demon and angelic forms when they were met by Alfred and the others. Antonio was reassured to be back among friends.

"What the hell are you playing at, dude?" Alfred demanded as Ludwig went on the defensive, surrounded by so many demons. "Sitting down to dinner with angels! You're just lucky it was us that saw you and not Ivan!"

"You'll be the death of me, mon frère!" Francis declared, shaking his head in frustration. What was that about being among friends?

"Arschlock!" Gilbert cursed, stepping out from behind Alfred. Into full view of his brother!

"Gilbert!"

"Ludwig!" 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter : Can Alfred get to Heaven?


	6. Vol VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Matthew get disappointing news.....

 

**_**Vol VI** _ **

  


Ludwig stared at someone he had not seen in years but he remembered the silver/white hair and the crimson eyes although he did not remember the red horns and white, reptilian wings but he should have expected that, seeing as he knew Gilbert was a demon. His little brother had grown up since his death, was Gilbert's first thought when he saw Ludwig. The last time Gilbert saw him, he was a gawky teenager, now Ludwig was taller than him and ripped with muscles with a pair of magnificent, white wings sprouting from his back.

"Hello, bruder!" was the only thing Ludwig could think of to say. Of all the things to happen, this was what he was the least prepared for even as he had half hoped for it.

"Hello, bruder," Gilbert replied. He just stared at his brother for a few moments and then he sighed. "This is so unawesome! I never wanted you to see me like this!"

"If Matthew can cope with his brother being a demon, Gilbert," Ludwig commented. "So can I! It's good to see you again!" And he hugged Gilbert who hugged him back.

"I've missed you!"

"Right back at you, bruder!" They broke the hug and stepped back, the suspicion of a tear in the corner of their eyes.

"That being said," Ludwig continued and turned to look at the other two demons. "Talk to your friends and make sure they know that the Vargas Brothers are off-limits! First, I have to save Feliciano from this groping pervert." He indicated toward Francis who blushed. "Then I find this one, putting moves on Romano!" He pointed at Antonio.

"We are demons, Ludwig!" Gilbert pointed out. "That's our task, doing what we must to gain souls. It's what Hell demands of us."

"Nevertheless," his brother replied. "If I find them trying again, I will act accordingly, your friends or no!" Gilbert just nodded as that was an accepted hazard.

"What are you doing here, any way?" Arthur asked as he gazed over the little group and Alfred came to stand in front of Arthur.

"I heard that you had a run-in with Ivan," he replied. "I had to see if you were all right!"

"Don't worry about me!" Arthur smirked. "I wasn't the one who had a crane dropped on him!" Gilbert began to laugh.

"Kesesese!" he chuckled. "That really happened? I could hardly believe it when I heard. No wonder Ivan was pissed! Oh, this is awesome!"

"He was that angry?"

"Let's put it this way," Gilbert replied. "One demon is yet to wake up and half of Hell is still in hiding!"

"Which means you'll need to be careful," Alfred said to Arthur. "Ivan will be gunning for you now."

"He already is," Arthur replied. "Ivan deliberately sought me out! At first, I thought he was delaying me so Antonio could get to Romano but it became quite clear that he was nothing to do with Antonio which can only mean Ivan came after me!"

"That's a problem!"

"Why are we standing around, talking like we're all friends?" Antonio asked, confused at the almost camaraderie of the gathering. Alfred looked at Gilbert and Francis and nodded. Time to bring Antonio into the loop.

"The angel that Francis and I were fighting," Gilbert explained. "Turns out it's Alfred's bruder, Matthew. Arthur's been setting up meetings for them and I've been acting as lookout. No way do we want Ivan finding out about that!" Antonio felt a little hurt that Alfred had not confided in him about this.

"Why didn't you tell me, amigo?" he asked with a pout. "I would have backed you up, you know that!" Alfred put his hand on his friend's shoulder to reassure him.

"If Ivan thought you knew something," he replied. "You would have been a target for him. There's no telling what Ivan would have done to you to find out what you knew. Sorry, Dude! It was for your own protection." Antonio shrugged.

"Si, it's okay!" he replied. "I get it!"

"You will if you go near Romano again," Ludwig warned. "He's under my protection, as is Feliciano! So be warned!"

"Shame!" Antonio declared. "I like Romano! He's cute and looks like a __tomate_ _ when he goes red! I think I could have had something there!"

"Not his soul!" Arthur snapped. "He's under my protection too."

"We'll stay away from the Vargas Brothers," Alfred said, giving the other two demons a meaningful stare. He would talk to them later but he had a bad feeling that the Vargas Brothers were going to be a flash point in the future.

"We better depart before we're spotted by either side," Francis advised. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea and began to separate while Alfred turned to Arthur.

"I'll see you and Matthew tomorrow," he promised. He did not dare kiss Arthur in front of the other demons, Gilbert gave him a big enough headache about it so he just gave Arthur's hand a squeeze before following his friends into the air as Ludwig and Arthur returned to the restaurant.

"Do you think it's possible to redeem a demon and bring him into Heaven, Ludwig?" Arthur asked the arc-angel. Ludwig gave it some thought.

"I've never heard of it happening," he admitted. "Perhaps you should talk to Romulus or my grandfather. They might know more." Arthur nodded.

"I will!"

* * *

Matthew sighed with relief as he left from his meeting with the Higher-Ups who had tried long and hard to persuade him not to meet with his brother again but Matthew adamantly refused. In the end, they gave up and just accepted that Alfred was going to be a part of Matthew's life whether they approved or not. They finally allowed him to leave with a note of caution and that Ludwig would now accompany the meetings. Matthew could live with that!

As he made his way to his chambers, he saw that Arthur had returned and was making his way to the Heavenly Records temple.

"Arthur!" he called out to his mentor. Arthur stopped and looked round at Matthew.

"Hello!" he greeted the younger angel. "How did the meeting go?"

"They tried to get me to stay away from Alfred," Matthew replied. "I said no! How was your day?"

"Eventful!" Arthur admitted. "I'm going to see Romulus and Wolfgang about it and ask them something. Maybe you should come, it concerns you!" Matthew followed Arthur, full of curiosity. The Heavenly Records Keepers agreed to see them and Arthur related everything that had happened.

"You're sure that the Soul Thief deliberately sought you out?" Wolfgang asked. "That he wasn't just keeping you busy for the other demons?"

"That's what I thought, at first," Arthur replied. "But the demon Antonio was quite adamant in his denial and I believe him. In fact, I would go so far as to say that all four demons actually hate Ivan. It seems he has enemies, even in Hell!"

"Why would he target you?" Wolfgang asked. Arthur knew that Romulus was not going to like this.

"I'm Ivan's big failure," he replied. "Ivan never failed to get a soul until he tried to take mine when I was alive. He was unsuccessful and it seems I'm known as 'The Uncorrupted' in Hell!" Romulus frowned and turned to Wolfgang.

"This is a troubling development," he commented. "Arthur is Romano's guardian. If the Soul Thief is targeting him, not only is he in danger but my grandsons could be at risk too. Perhaps we should have someone else assigned to Romano for a while."

"I can do my task!" Arthur said, offended that they would think he was a liability. "And I'm not afraid of Ivan."

"But there's the question of the other demons," Wolfgang pointed out.

"I don't think they'll be a problem," Arthur replied. "Matthew's brother, Alfred said he'd talk to the others and one of them is Gilbert, Ludwig's brother and your grandson who's protecting Romano with me. Gilbert won't attack his own brother." Wolfgang hoped Arthur was right, that Gilbert had that much humanity left in him.

"Are you sure of that?" Romulus asked. "That Antonio demon sounds a little too interested in Romano."

"He can't do anything while I'm there," Arthur replied. "And he's no match for Ludwig. Please! Let my do my job!" Romulus sighed.

"Very well," he agreed. "But the moment you think your presence is endangering Romano and Feliciano, you withdraw, understand!" Arthur nodded.

"There's something I want to ask," he said. "Is it possible to redeem a demon and bring him to Heaven?" Matthew stared at Arthur. Was he talking about Alfred?

"I'm afraid not!" Wolfgang replied, adamantly, crushing the hope. "Demons can't come into Heaven."

"Why not?" Matthew demanded. "Demons can grab angels and drag them to Hell to be tainted into demons, why can't we take demons, purify them and make them angels?" Wolfgang sighed.

"If we could, don't you think we would," he replied. "Especially victims of Ivan and Gilbert would be the first I would rescue. The difference is that angels own their souls, demons don't and you need a soul to pass into Heaven. Hell would have to relinquish ownership of the demon's soul for the demon to have a chance of Heaven and that has never happened."

"Is there any way to get Hell to relinquish ownership?" Arthur asked. "Anything we can use?"

"Hell could relinquish ownership of its own accord," Romulus replied. "Not very likely or someone from Hell could break the rules between Heaven and Hell, in which case, Hell would have to forfeit something of our choosing. But Hell is very careful about its denizens sticking to the rules. Any demon who broke them and cost Hell souls would face …... severe penalties!"

"What rules?"

"Demons cannot take a soul that is uncorrupted and acceptable to Heaven," Wolfgang stated. "They can't take the life of a living uncorrupted and the souls of children are off-limits since they have not lived long enough to taint themselves."

"So that's why Ivan tried to get my soul, rather than Peter's," Arthur mused. "There's no other way?" Both angels shook their heads.

"Thank you," Arthur and Matthew bowed and left the room. Well, that was disappointing! Unless they wanted to trick demons into taking some poor, innocent soul, thereby corrupting their own, they had no way of saving Alfred. They could only hope that they caught some demons breaking the rules on their own. Matthew summed it up.

"This sucks!"

* * *

"Ve~ Do you think they'll come back, Romano?" Feliciano asked as they dressed for bed. His voice was muffled as he pulled his pyjama top over his head.

"Who cares!" Romano snapped as he pulled a comb through his hair but he was wondering the same thing. Would the Tomato Bastard return? Some part of him hoped so.

"Isn't Ludwig handsome?" Feli continued to gush about his gorgeous German. Romano sniffed.

"The bastard certainly likes his potatoes," he muttered, remembering how many Feliciano's new friend had consumed. And sausage.

"I think you like Antonio too," Feli smiled at his brother. Romano turned bright red at Feliciano's observation, mainly because it was true.

"What do you mean, idiota?" he denied, hotly and unconvincingly. "There's no way I give a damn about that Tomato Bastard. Don't be such a moron!" Feliciano decided it was time for Romano's next treatment.

"HUG THERAPY!" he shouted and glomped his brother. Romano freaked out as his brother's arms enclosed him and hugged him tight, Romano trying to untangle himself from Feli's embrace.

"WILL YOU STOP WITH THE STUPID HUG THERAPY, YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, smacking Feliciano upside the head and escaping his clutches. Feliciano rubbed his head and then forgot his brother had ever hit him.

"Ve~ I know you like him," Feliciano replied. "You never would have invited him for lunch if you didn't." Romano snorted.

"I was just saying thank you," he lied. "Like you were with the Potato Bastard."

"And because I liked him," Feliciano admitted. "I wanted to get to know him better. Are you sure you don't like Antonio, just a little bit?" Romano gave Feliciano a shove.

"Just go to bed, idiota!"

* * *

Everyone had gathered in Alfred's room in Hell, discussing the situation now that everybody was on the same page, although Antonio was still in the dark about certain romantic aspects of the whole situation.

"We have to stay away from the Vargas Brothers," Alfred said. "I don't want anything jeopardizing my meetings with Matthew. Attempts on their souls might make Heaven ban all contact with me."

"For who?" Gilbert asked, sarcastically. Antonio gave Gilbert a confused look.

"Do you want to be banned from seeing Ludwig?" Alfred asked him. Gilbert shook his head. Wanting to see one's brother was something Gilbert understood now he had seen his own.

"I still want to see Romano!" Antonio declared. "He's too cute to let go. I like it in his company!"

"Someone else who's love-struck," Gilbert sighed, although he had to admit that Matthew was awesomely adorable. He shook his head. He was getting as bad as Alfred.

"I would have loved to get that cute little Italian," Francis said with a hint of sadness. "Ah well, C'est la vie!"

"I can't stop ya from approaching Romano Vargas," Alfred said. "Just don't try to corrupt his soul or you'll have to deal with Ludwig. Remember, he's an arc-angel."

"Gracias, amigo," Antonio replied. "I promise I won't touch Romano's soul. I won't do anything to restrict your time with your brother. Or yours." Antonio turned to Gilbert.

"Danke, mein freund," Gilbert said. "But what about the other problem, Ivan! He's out to get Arthur which puts both Matthew and Ludwig in the firing-line too."

"Then we have to protect them without Ivan realizing it," Alfred replied.

"Protect angels!" Francis was shocked. "Just how do we do this treasonous act?" Gilbert had an idea.

"We pretend that they're our prey," he announced. "I'll pretend to be after Matthew and Alfred pretends to be hunting Arthur. That way we can stay close enough to protect them but throw Ivan off the scent."

"That might backfire somewhat, mon frère," Francis warned. "If Ivan has his sights on Arthur, that will bring him into direct competition with Alfred." Gilbert and Alfred had to concede that Francis had a point.

"It'll give me a reason to fight him," Alfred smiled. "I'll be protecting Arthur but Ivan will think I'm defending my territory."

"Fighting Ivan didn't turn out so well, last time," Gilbert pointed to Alfred's black hair, a souvenir from his last battle with Ivan.

"I wasn't quite a demon then," Alfred replied. "I'm stronger now, Ivan won't find me as easy a target this time." Gilbert admitted that was true and Alfred was one of the strongest demons in Hell. But Ivan was one of the most devious.

"I can't believe we're going to do this," Francis said. "Guarding angels instead of corrupting souls! The universe has turned on its head."

"If you can't do this, Francis," Alfred told him. "I won't ask you to."

"Mon frère, of course I will do this," Francis replied. "You're part of the Bad Touch Quartet. We back each other up, no matter what!"

"Then we have a plan!"

* * *

Next day, while Arthur and Matthew kept watch from the roof of the restaurant and waiting for Alfred, Ludwig watched Feliciano move between the tables, delivering meals to hungry customers, smiling with his bright smile. Customers could only smile back in response and Ludwig had to smile too. The younger Italian had the purest soul, outside of children, that Ludwig had ever seen and would see in Heaven, one day. Hopefully not for a long time.

A group of satisfied diners stood up and left with a thank you and a huge tip. Feliciano never kept the tip but put it in the tip jar to be shared among all the other waiters and waitresses. Another selfless act! One thing Ludwig noticed that, while Romano made fun of Feliciano for doing that, he did exactly the same thing.

The door opened and Antonio walked in, disguised as a mortal. He saw Ludwig stood in the corner, invisible to everyone else, as he turned and glared at Antonio. The demon smirked, knowing there was nothing the arc-angel could do about it although Antonio had every intention of keeping his word to Alfred, as he explained to Arthur when the angel challenged him on the way in, but Ludwig had no way of knowing that!

"Antonio!" Feliciano gave a happy cry as he spied his fratello's new friend. "You're back so soon! You want to see fratello? He's in the kitchen, why don't you go see him?" Antonio thanked the exuberant Italian and pushed the kitchen door open.

"Hola, Romano," he called from the door. A disgruntled voice sounded from the kitchen.

"Came back, did you, Tomato Bastard?" Romano groused. "Well, if you're coming in here, put this on!" A hair net hit the demon in the face. Antonio laughed, put it on and went into the kitchen. Ludwig was not happy with the Vargas Brothers accepting Antonio so easily. There was no way they could know he was a demon but he was a stranger they had known for a day, if that and he decided he needed to be a physical presence in the lives of the two Italian brothers in order to protect them. He left the restaurant, found a deserted a corner and hid his wings. He took on a visible form and returned to the restaurant where he was almost knocked down by a glomping Feli who was ecstatic to see his new crush.

"Ludwig!" he cried. "I'm so happy to see you again. Have you come for a meal? I'll find you a table!"

"Nein but danke!" Ludwig replied. "I was passing and I thought I would stop by to say hello."

"Ve~ That's so nice," Feliciano replied. "Antonio's here too. He's talking to fratello in the kitchen." As a waiter came from the kitchen, carrying a couple of meals, Romano's irate voice followed him out through the door.

"DON'T TOUCH MY CURL, JERK!" Ludwig frowned. Just as well the diners were far enough away not to hear that!

"What's going on in there?" he demanded. Feliciano sighed.

"Fratello really should be nicer to people," he said. "I think he needs more Hug Therapy!" And he moved toward the kitchen while Ludwig followed, wondering what Hug Therapy was. As they entered the kitchen, Romano was slapping Antonio's hand away as he reached for Romano's curl again and Feliciano went up to Romano.

"HUG THERAPY!" he cried and threw his arms around Romano. Both Antonio and Ludwig could not help but chuckle as Romano tried to wriggle out of Feli's arms and cursed his 'Hug Therapy' up one side and down the other. The brothers were too cute for words. Antonio caught Ludwig's eye and conveyed the message that he was not a threat to Romano's soul. Ludwig got the message but he was not about to drop his guard.

* * *

Matthew searched the skies as he and Arthur perched on the roof, looking out for demons, one in particular and Matthew wanted to see his brother, hoping to have more time with him, this time. The idea was that, when Alfred arrived, they would take human form and have a meal inside the restaurant, that way they could meet out of sight of other demons who might relay that information to someone they would rather not know and also guard the Vargas Brothers while they were there.

"Did we do the right thing, letting that Spanish demon into the restaurant?" Matthew asked Arthur. "I know he said he's not here to corrupt Romano ….."

"I know!" Arthur agreed. "But Ludwig's in there and when Alfred arrives, we'll be there too so the brothers will have plenty of protection." Then Arthur's eyes narrowed on a couple of specks coming toward them and it grew into two demons that he recognised as Alfred and Gilbert (Francis stayed in Hell to run interference and distract Ivan, plus having him run into Feliciano was a big no no!) and he nudged Matthew.

"They're here!" he said and Matthew turned to watch his brother and his friend glide in. Both he and Arthur drifted down to a deserted corner and the two demons joined them.

"Hey, bro!" Alfred enclosed his brother in a hug and Arthur felt slightly jealous that those arms were not around him. "Gilbert's joining us today. I'll explain when we get inside."

"Everyone ready?" Arthur asked. Everyone nodded and took on human form. Arthur was wearing a shirt and tie, covered with a green sweater vest and brown trousers while Matthew was wearing jeans and a red hooded top. Alfred was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a Captain America symbol on it while Gilbert wore black, skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Quite an eclectic little group!

"Okay!" Alfred clapped his hands together. "Let's eat, I'm starved!" And they went in to the restaurant, not noticing the little demon with short, blonde hair, violet/blue eyes and maroon-red wings and horns, spying on them as he trembled.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : Ivan develops a disturbing interest in Arthur.


	7. Vol VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The angels and demons make plans over dinner and Ivan has his spy…..

 

**_**Vol VII** _ **

 

Francis was slightly confused by the fact that Ivan made no attempt to try and follow the rest of the Bad Touch Quartet, instead staying in Hell, surrounded by his lackeys. Francis felt sorry for some of Ivan's henchmen, mainly the Baltic Trio, so-called because they had been from the Baltics in life. Eduard had been an Estonian that Ivan had tricked out of his soul by claiming a friend of his was in danger and, by selling his soul, Ivan could make sure that his friend survived. Tino was his dearest friend so Eduard did what Ivan wanted. Of course, Tino would have survived anyway.

Toris hailed from Lithuania and never spoke about how he ended up in Hell. It was something he was ashamed of and he regarded as his greatest failure that led to an innocent soul suffering the same fate as Toris and Toris had never worked up the courage to tell the soul in question.

Then there was Raivis. He had not had the best life before he died, being the only son of a violent father and an emotionally dependent mother, Ivan had told him that he could solve his family situation by getting rid of his father. Raivis had been so desperate that he agreed and then the next day, his father walked under a vehicle. Raivis spent a short while feeling guilt-ridden, not knowing his father was going to die that way anyway, then he himself died, falling from a great height and, from that moment on, he had been a demon.

Speaking of Raivis, where was the little demon? Francis had not seen him at all today and he usually did not stray far from the other two. Was he cowering away from the Russian demon? Francis did not blame him!

* * *

Ivan knew Francis was watching him and he smiled to himself. Staying in Hell would give the Bad Touch Quartet a false sense of security while his little spy followed them around, gathering information on their actions and Ivan could sit back and wait for Raivis to report to him.

He expected information soon!

* * *

Arthur, Matthew, Alfred and Gilbert came into the restaurant, just as Feliciano and Ludwig were coming out of the kitchen and, after a word of pardon to Ludwig, Feliciano came to see to them.

"Welcome to Paradiso Italiano , gentlemen!" he greeted. "Table for four?"

"Yes, thank you," Arthur replied and Feliciano led them to a table but he became fascinated by one of the group as Feliciano felt that he knew the young blonde man with the violet eyes and the curl from somewhere. He went to get menus as the new diners seated themselves, handed them to the men and the violet eyed man was the last to take his menu.

"Scusi," Feliciano said to him. "But have we met before? I feel like I know you." The violet eyed man looked a little startled.

"I'm quite sure this is the first time you've ever seen me," he replied. "Perhaps I just remind you of someone?" Feliciano tilted his head and looked at Matthew a little more closely.

"Ve~," he said. "Maybe you're right." But Feliciano could not shake that feeling of recognition as he took their drinks order. Ludwig stood and watch as Feliciano went over to the bar to fill the orders while Arthur caught Ludwig's eye and he nodded, moving to stand near the other two angels and the two demons.

"How could he possibly know me?" Matthew whispered, looking at Feliciano over by the bar.

"It sometimes happens," Arthur replied. "Some humans are more sensitive than others and they might get a feeling of recognition if they see their guardian angel as a mortal. It's nothing to worry about, Matthew."

"We've come up with a idea to protect you and Matthew from Ivan without him thinking we are," Alfred revealed. "The plan is for Gilbert and I to pretend that we've targeted you. It'll give us a reason to stay close and keep other demons away."

"Ivan already has me targeted," Arthur replied. "Won't he see that as a challenge?"

"A legitimate reason to fight him for you!"

"I can protect myself, you know," Arthur said, grumpily, putting his menu down and crossing his arms, glaring at Alfred. "I did beat him, last time." Alfred sat back with a smirk.

"There won't always be a convenient crane to hit him with," he replied.

"I'll be watching your back as well," Gilbert said with a smirking look at Matthew. "As far as Ivan's concerned, I've got my eye on Birdie here." 'Birdie' blushed.

"What about the groping, French pervert?" Arthur asked with a note of derision.

"He's in Hell, keeping an eye on Ivan," Gilbert replied. "He'll also distract him from trying to come after us."

"Good!" Arthur replied. "The last thing we want is that deviant hanging round an innocent like Feliciano. I would have loved to see him try that with Romano. He would have replied to that groping with his knee!" Both demons smirked. Or maybe grimaced.

"He can be a little touchy-feely," Gilbert agreed. "But he's not really a bad guy. He was a faithful husband when he was alive and he sold his soul to save his wife from heart disease but she died in a fire instead. Ivan, of course!"

"I understand why you all hate him," Arthur commented. "But if he should …... " He clammed up when he saw Feliciano returning with their drinks. He put them down in front of them and took out his notepad.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked. Each of them gave their orders while Feliciano once again looked at Matthew with that feeling of recognition again. When he had all the orders written down, he went into the kitchen while Ludwig moved closer to the group.

"Why did you let that Spanish demon in to see Romano?" he demanded. Alfred answered him.

"He's not going to try for Romano's soul," he replied. "He's on our side and he promised not to try to corrupt Romano but as far as Ivan's concerned, he's Antonio's prey. A reason for him to be around!" Ludwig shook his head.

"Working with any demons, let alone four," he muttered. "I'm not entirely comfortable with that. My first instinct is to fight you." Alfred shrugged.

"It's not exactly normal for us, either," he replied. "But if that's what I have to do to see my brother, then I'll do that. It means you and Gilbert get to see each other too so you benefit as well."

"You must admit, he has a point, bruder," Gilbert commented. "I'll do this to have contact with you, don't you think it's worth it?" Ludwig sighed and nodded.

"And I have the added bonus of cute Birdie's company here," Gilbert continued, leaning toward Matthew with a smirking smile and Matthew went bright red.

"Gilbert!" Alfred warned. Gilbert held his hands up.

"Sorry!" he said. "Can I help it if your bruder's so awesomely cute?" If possible, Matthew blushed even harder. Arthur cleared his throat and everyone looked in his direction.

"Perhaps we should stop this conversation before someone gets punched," he advised, not comfortable with Gilbert's attention toward Matthew. Matthew looked a little ill-at-ease and Alfred was sending warning glances to his friend and Gilbert nodded his agreement so they changed the subject and waited for their food.

* * *

Raivis stared through the window toward the far corner where the four were sat. Two demons and two angels enjoying a meal together was not what he expected to see but there it was, in front of him. He had always envied The Bad Touch Quartet for standing up to Ivan because he wished he had the courage but he had been barely eighteen when he died, terrorised by an abusive father, but unable to leave his emotionally frail mother alone with him. He had always taken the less confrontational path, doing nothing that would bring down his father's fists on his mother and himself. His one act of defiance had been selling his soul to Ivan to free himself and his mother from his father's brutal grasp. After that, his father had stepped out into the road and into the path of an oncoming vehicle, not surviving. Raivis had not asked for his father to die and did not know that it was his father's destiny until after he himself died. Then he had found himself in Ivan's clutches.

He did not know what The Bad Touch Quartet, minus Francis, were doing, hanging round with angels and was that an arc-angel hovering around them? Could it be a meeting between representatives of Heaven and Hell? That happened sometimes to discuss new rules between the two realms but not in mortal restaurants and The Bad Touch Quartet did not have the authority, to Raivis's knowledge.

He wished he could get closer to hear what they were saying but if he went in, they would sense him. Ivan would be displeased if The Bad Touch Quartet realised that he had spies watching them so he would just have to wait to see if he could find out more.

* * *

Gilbert began to behave himself around Matthew, allowing the angel to become a little more comfortable around the albino demon, although Gilbert still threw out the odd flirtatious remark, making Matthew turn red but he found himself liking the demon a little, even if Alfred was sending warning glances at his friend across the table.

Alfred, when he was not glaring at his friend to knock it off, was flirting with Arthur who was pretending not to noticed while in company but Alfred could see a little pleasure in the angel's green eyes at the attention of the black-haired demon. Ludwig had retreated to the kitchen with Feliciano and so was watching Antonio as he hovered around Romano, still not trusting the Spanish demon with the older Vargas brother.

The meal was coming to an end and Arthur called for the bill (mortal money was easy for angels to summon), paid the bill and left a generous tip. With a 'thank you, that was delicious' to Feliciano and a glance at Ludwig, he left the restaurant, followed by Matthew and the two demons.

None of them saw the little Latvian demon skitter away out of sight as they stepped out into the sun, just four normal men to anyone passing by. Raivis watched the four from his hiding place as they said their goodbyes.

"I'll be by to see Matthew tomorrow," Alfred said. "Gilbert will be hanging around to watch our backs."

"What about Antonio?" Arthur asked. "I know it's making Ludwig nervous, having him hanging round Romano."

"Antonio likes Romano!" Gilbert was honest about that. "But he's promised not to move on Romano's soul. It is possible for a demon and a human to have a relationship without the human's soul being corrupted."

"I'm aware of that," Arthur replied. "It's just hard to trust when you've been under attack by said demon." Alfred chuckled.

"He knows better now," he said. "Think of him as an extra level of protection!" Arthur did not say anything but he looked sceptical.

"We better go," Gilbert pointed out. "Before the other demons start to wonder where we are. The last thing we want is them looking for us right now."

"You're right," Alfred concurred. "See you tomorrow, bro!" He hugged Matthew and gave Arthur a look that said 'See you tomorrow, too'

"Ja, see you, Birdie!" Gilbert grinned at Matthew who blushed again, wondering just how many times he had blushed today. The two demons and two angels went their separate ways as Raivis watched, wondering just what was going on between the two pairs. He had a feeling that it was more than he had seen and he flew away to report the meeting to Ivan.

* * *

"What were you up to back there?" Alfred asked as he and Gilbert flew toward the nearest portal to Hell. Demons could return to Hell through any intense fire and, in this case, they were heading for the nearest steel refinery and the furnace. "You tear me a new one over romancing an angel and now you're flirting with one?"

"What can I say?" Gilbert shrugged. "I see the attraction now. Birdie's awesomely cute and I just can't resist him, especially when he blushes."

"Do I need to point out that he's my brother?"

"I'm not going to hurt him, Alfred," Gilbert promised. "I give you my awesome word. Besides, I'm just flirting. I don't know where this is going to go but I promise, I won't mess him around."

"You'd better not!" Alfred warned as they flew into the heat of the furnace.

* * *

"What's going on between you and my brother?" Matthew asked. Arthur was so surprised at the question that his wings lost beat and he dropped a little.

"What do you mean?" he said, shakily. He had not been expecting that question from Matthew.

"I'm not blind, Arthur," Matthew replied. "Nor stupid! I saw the looks between you and my brother and then that question you asked Romulus and Wolfgang about redeeming demons. I know you were asking that for Alfred so what's going on between you two?" Arthur blushed this time. Matthew smiled.

"You like him!" he teased. "You like my brother!" Arthur scowled.

"And what about you and Gilbert?" he replied. "I saw him talking to you and you were blushing. It wasn't all from embarrassment either." And Matthew blushed. Again!

"He's not so bad," he said, sheepishly. "He made me nervous at first but he's quite nice when you get to know him better." Arthur sighed as they flew onward.

"Looks like we both have it bad."

* * *

Francis was still keeping an eye on Ivan when his two friends flew in and they went to Alfred's room, out of Ivan's sight. They shut the door tight and settled down to talk.

"Where's Antonio?" Francis asked the others.

"Still chasing that Italian restaurateur," Gilbert replied. "What's been happening at this end?"

"Nothing!" Francis replied. "Ivan hasn't left Hell at all. Not following you guys, not soul hunting or even angel hunting! It's unusual and a little unnerving, the way he's just sitting tight. I think he's up to something."

"It's Ivan!" Alfred stated. "He's always up to something but what can he get up to, staying in Hell?"

"I don't know," Francis replied. "But I don't like it! And I haven't seen his little lackey, Raivis all day either."

"But what can Raivis do?" Gilbert asked. "He's not exactly the strongest demon around here!"

"If he's missing on Ivan's orders, I'd worry," Francis commented. "Ivan generally has a plan and doesn't leave much to chance."

"I agree," Alfred concurred. "We need to start keeping an eye on Ivan's minions if he's using them instead of doing his own dirty work." Francis groaned.

"We're going to have our work cut out for us!"

* * *

Raivis was stood in Ivan's chambers, trembling at the powerful demon he was facing.

"So Alfred and Gilbert sat down to dinner with two angels, da?" he asked Raivis who nodded, nervously.

"There was an arc-angel in mortal guise too," Raivis added. Ivan considered the facts. If there was an arc-angel involved then Heaven was aware of what was happening and Ivan had no doubt that one of the angels was Kirkland and he guessed that the other was probably Jones's brother. Having a crane dropped on him was a humiliation for which Ivan intended to exact revenge but he still wanted to convert Kirkland who could be a demon to rival many in Hell but some punishment was due, no matter how much he had impressed Ivan.

"Do you know what they discussed?" he demanded. Raivis shook his head with a frightened expression.

"They were in the restaurant," he squeaked. "I couldn't go in without them sensing me! I'm sorry, Ivan! Please don't hurt me!"

"Don't worry, little Raivis," Ivan replied, rubbing Raivis's head and pressing down until Raivis was almost wincing with pain. "You did the right thing! We can't have them knowing they're being watched, da?" Raivis shook his head, still scared.

"Now, you will be a good little spy," Ivan ordered. "Keep watching them and, should you find Kirkland alone, I want you to tell me immediately. Da?"

"Yes, Ivan," Raivis replied and sighed with relief when he was given permission to leave.

Alone, Ivan thought about his enemies and the angel who had evaded him, not once but twice. He would have to make an example of Kirkland to prove that there was a consequence to defying him but he would not permanently harm Kirkland, he had impressed Ivan with his abilities and Ivan could not wait to see how Kirkland would be as a demon. He had plans for the future of Hell and it involved him being in charge and he was considering taking a permanent mate and Kirkland was firmly in Ivan's sights.

But he needed to be corrupted first!

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter : Things are about to change


	8. Vol VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is in the air …..

 

**_**Vol VIII** _ **

When the restaurant closed, Ludwig and Antonio were still beside their respective Italian brother. Ludwig refused to leave while Antonio was still hanging around and that led to Feliciano issuing an invitation.

"Ve~ why don't the two of you join us for a drink?" he asked while Romano locked up the restaurant but that did not stop him from staring at his brother, as if to say What are the ****bleep**** are you doing, idiota?

"Si!" Antonio agreed, immediately. "That's sounds like a great idea." Feliciano turned to Ludwig, hopefully and Ludwig was powerless against Feliciano's pleading face, although he told himself it was to keep an eye on Antonio who he still did not trust, no matter how many assurances he was given to the contrary.

"Ja," he replied, making Feliciano beam with happiness. "I would like that!" Romano rolled his eyes and accepted that this was going to happen.

"Okay, bastards!" he said, putting the keys in his pocket. "Let's go then. Time's getting on and we have to work tomorrow so if you want a drink, move it!" And after that charming invitation, the group of four made their way to an unknown destination.

* * *

Ludwig was less than pleased to find out that they had arrived at the home of the Vargas Brothers and Feliciano invited both demon and arc-angel in. This meant that Antonio would have unfettered access to the house but, on the plus side, it meant that Ludwig did as well.

The Vargas home was a modest but comfortable looking house on a quiet street and was comfortably furnished. After being invited to sit down, the arc-angel and demon were offered their drinks and Ludwig asked for beer while Antonio was given red wine.

"Ve~ Did you know those four men, Ludwig?" Feliciano asked. "The four who came in for a meal?" Ludwig thought fast.

"Ja," he replied. "I know Arthur and Matthew. We work together."

"Really!" Feliciano said. "What do you do?"

"Protection services," Ludwig gave Antonio a hard stare who did his best to ignore it.

"Like hired security?" Romano asked. With the muscles that Ludwig had, he could believe it.

"Nein," Ludwig replied. "We don't protect people who have the money to pay. We're more like guardians, protecting innocent people at risk, people we're assigned to."

"Is that why you move around a lot?" Feliciano asked.

"Ja," Ludwig replied. "My current assignment is close by." Ludwig did not clarify HOW close.

"Who was looking out for your assignment while you and your friends were hanging out at our restaurant, Potato Bastard?" Romano asked Ludwig. Ludwig ignored the Potato Bastard part.

"We're a large team," Ludwig replied, evasively. "It has a lot of members."

"Ve~ What do you do for a living, Antonio?" Romano pretended not to be interested in Antonio's answer.

"Acquisitions," Antonio replied. Ludwig nearly choked on his beer. Is that what demons called it these days?!

"What do you acquire?" Romano asked. It would be just his luck that Acquisitions meant that Antonio was someone who stole valuable items or maybe he was interested in 'acquiring' the restaurant.

"I recruit people of interest," Antonio replied. Romano took this to mean that Antonio was a head-hunter for some company while Ludwig knew that Antonio meant he collected souls for Hell and gave him a disgusted look that, fortunately, both Vargas brothers missed. Ludwig took a sip of his beer as he assessed the situation. He was not leaving before Antonio, that he was certain about but even if Antonio left, he could come back any time. He would have to report this to the Higher-ups.

"I think we have kept our hosts up for long enough," he said, hinting at the demon to leave. "As they said, they must work tomorrow. We should leave them to their rest." Antonio decided not to test the arc-angel.

"Si," he agreed, standing up. "We should go now. I'll see you some other time, Romano."

"Whatever, Tomato Bastard!"

"Ve~ I'll see you out," Feliciano said as both arc-angel and demon went to the door. Outside, Antonio said his goodbyes and quickly left while Ludwig breathed a sigh of relief as Antonio walked away.

"Ve~ Will I see you again?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm not sure," Ludwig replied but Feliciano looked a little crest-fallen and Ludwig did not like that. "But I will try." Feliciano lit up at the promise.

"Yay!" he cried, jumping up and down on his front step. He lost his footing and slipped. Ludwig caught him but was off-balance and both of them fell to the floor and Feliciano's lips accidentally crashed down on Ludwig's.

Ludwig's eyes widened in shock as he felt Feliciano's soft lips on his. Feliciano was shocked when he found his lips on firm, warm ones and it took a moment for both of them to realise that Ludwig's arms were still wrapped around Feliciano.

Feliciano broke the kiss and look down at the stunned Ludwig and panicked.

"Ve~ I'm sorry!" he cried. "It was an accident! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm …..." Ludwig shut him up by kissing him again and this time he broke the kiss.

"You'll will see me again," he promised.

And Feliciano kissed him back.

* * *

The next day, while Ludwig hovered in the background, Arthur and Matthew watched as Feliciano practically skipped around the restaurant, taking orders with a bigger smile than usual and, generally cheering up everyone who saw him, even if they came into the restaurant in a bad mood.

"He's even happier than usual," Matthew commented as Feliciano drew a smile from a little boy who was screaming for ice-cream.

"Ve~ It's called gelato in here, Little Signore," Feliciano said, tapping the little boy playfully on the nose. "Let's see what's in the freezer." He disappeared into the kitchen while the little boy jumped up and down excitedly.

"He does seem more cheerful than normal," Arthur agreed.

"Ja," Ludwig replied and blushed a little which was not missed by the other two angels.

"Did something happen after we left?" Arthur asked and the arc-angel blushed even harder. "It did, didn't it?"

"The Vargas brothers invited the demon and I for a drink," Ludwig replied, embarrassed. "And then Feliciano and I …..." He said the last word too quiet for Arthur and Matthew to hear.

"You and Feliciano what?" Matthew probed.

"We kissed!" Ludwig went bright red. Arthur and Matthew looked at each other and then Arthur began to laugh and Matthew could not stop grinning.

"So the big, tough arc-angel has finally fallen!" Arthur chortled. "It would take someone like Feliciano to make that happen! Well, I'm very happy for you, both of you!"

"It was just a kiss!" Ludwig denied. "Besides, I'm an angel, he's a mortal!"

"So! He's not your assignment," Arthur replied. "Romano is! There are no rules about loving a mortal, just not the one you're protecting." Angels could love mortals but it was kind of like doctors not being allowed to have a relationship with any of their patients. Ludwig, having a relationship with Romano would be a big no-no but Feliciano would be fine.

"He's just grateful that I saved him from that perverted demon," Ludwig said. "And it was an accident, anyway. He fell, I caught him and our lips connected."

"The arc-angel doth protest too much, me thinks," Arthur quoted to Matthew.

"Me thinks so, too," Matthew replied and Ludwig blushed again.

"It may not come to anything," he muttered. Feliciano came out with a bowl of 'gelato' for the little boy, on the house. Still with the happy smile on his face!

"Oh, it will come to something," Arthur predicted. And if Ludwig was honest, he was not entirely unhappy at the idea.

* * *

Alfred was making his way to the portal out to the mortal world with the rest of the Bad Touch Quartet walking beside him. Alfred and Gilbert were looking forward to seeing their brothers and Antonio would 'stalk' Romano. Francis would act as lookout.

"Alfred!" Ivan's voice called out to the foursome and they all winced but stopped. If they ignored him, he would follow them and they did not want that.

"What do you want, Braginski?" Alfred huffed, not wanting to spend any more time in the Russian demon's company than necessary. "We have things we want to do." The Russian came up to the group with the same creepy smile.

"I hear you and Gilbert sat down to dinner with some unusual companions," he said, smile still on his face. "Was your meal with angels enjoyable?" Alfred and Gilbert stiffened. How did he know?

"I know one of them is your brother," the look on Ivan's face disturbed all of them. "When are you going to bring him down here?"

"When I get the other one," Alfred replied, mockingly. "The one I fooled into thinking I won't corrupt my own brother. 'The Uncorrupted' I believe! You failed twice, let's see what I can do." Ivan's dark aura fell around him and he 'kolkolkol'ed under his breath.

"And I'll even keep my promise," Alfred continued. "I won't corrupt Matthew, I could never do that to my brother so Gilbert's going to. So I'll get The Uncorrupted and Matthew. Win, win!" Ivan produced his pipe and waved it threateningly under Alfred's nose.

"I'm not finished with Kirkland," he warned. "He's still my prey!" Alfred took out his pistol and pointed it under Ivan's chin. Gilbert, Antonio and Francis held their breaths.

"I beg to differ," Alfred replied. "Your direct approach hasn't work for you so far. In fact, the last I heard, Kirkland hit you with a crane. How embarrassing!" The kolkolkol's got louder.

"My approach is more subtle," Alfred smiled. "He won't know he's corrupted until it's happened. He already thinks he can trust me and that means Matthew thinks he can trust Gilbert. Face it, Braginski! I'm closer than you've ever gotten!" The dark aura remained but Ivan smiled again.

"Then I wish you luck," he said and walked away. The Bad Touch Quartet watched as he left.

"That was weird," Francis commented. "Do you think he bought it, mon ami?" Alfred shrugged.

"Perhaps we shouldn't go straight to the restaurant, amigo," Antonio advised. "If he knew about you two having dinner with The Uncorrupted and your brother. Who knows how he found out about that!"

"I think that's a good idea," Gilbert agreed. "In fact, I think we should split up, wander around for a while and meet up at the restaurant, just in case." Alfred nodded.

"Good plan!"

* * *

Ivan did not go far. As he watched the group move out, he thought about the confrontation and Jones's little act because that was what Ivan believed it to be. An act! It was well performed but Ivan did not quite buy it because he knew that Jones had yet to corrupt a single soul. True, he was still a relatively young demon but still, enough time had passed for at least one corruption but Jones's record was still clean. Ivan did not think Jones's heart was in it so this _'I'm after The Uncorrupted and my brother'_ did not ring true.

He signalled and Raivis came, trembling to his side, followed by Toris.

"Follow them!" he ordered. "But stick with Jones in particular. Any unusual activity, send Raivis to tell me." Both demons nodded and left, leaving Ivan to stare in the direction The Bad Touch Quartet had taken.

_'The American will not get The Uncorrupted! He's mine!'_

* * *

Arthur was practising with his bow, aiming at smaller and smaller targets, moving ones at that as he felt the need to hone his skills because he had the awful premonition that he would need every ounce of his ability very soon, especially in light of Ivan's rather worrying attention. Two moving balls of light shot in front of him and he concentrated on splitting his arrow into two and fired. The two arrows hit both targets with expert ease and a new arrow appeared in Arthur's bow, ready for the next shot.

"You're being particularly diligent today," Romulus's voice came from behind him. Arthur turned to address the other angel.

"I want to be at my best at this time," he replied. "If Ivan's hanging around, it's not good and I want to be able to keep my ward safe." Romulus sighed.

"My suggestion to assign someone else to Romano was not a criticism of your skills, Arthur," he assured him. "You're one of our best, it just that right now ….."

"I'm a target," Arthur finished. "And Romano, and indeed Feliciano, could get caught in the middle. I understand that, I do! It's just that I don't want to leave my job half done. A new angel won't be as used to Romano as I am. He can come across as a little …..weeelll..." Romulus smiled.

"I know what you mean," he replied. "Romano can be rather irascible and aggressive. He just doesn't trust anyone easily and you're right! Another angel might not understand that but still..."

"I'll do what it takes to protect both of your grandsons," Arthur promised. "And so will Matthew, I'm sure." Romulus smiled.

"I know you will," he replied. Arthur's head suddenly tilted as if he were sensing something.

"I better go," he said. "Romano's left the house."

"I'll leave you to it then."

* * *

Romano and Feliciano arrived at the restaurant and Romano was a little disappointed that Antonio was not waiting for him but he shrugged it off as he opened the door and he and Feliciano began setting things up for the day. The waiters and waitresses began arriving, ready for the lunchtime crowd and Feliciano looked out for Ludwig, not knowing that he was already there, watching over him and his brother, alongside Arthur and Matthew.

Diners seeking lunch began to drift in and Romano drifted between tables along with the other waiters and waitresses while it was Feliciano's turn to be the chef. It was hard to pick which brother was the better chef so nobody tried. Then the lunchtime rush slowed and they were able to take things a little easier so Romano sat down with a glass of wine by the window.

"He's waiting for that demon to show up," Ludwig was not happy with that. "He pretends he isn't but he's completely smitten with that devil." Arthur patted him on the shoulder.

"He's not here yet," he reassured him. "You don't have to worry about him right now so you can go work your charm on Feliciano. I'm here to watch over Romano, go on." And he pushed Ludwig toward the exit. Ludwig left the restaurant and went into the alley, leading to the back door to the kitchen and took mortal form. Then he knocked on the door and Feliciano answered.

"Ludwig!" he cried in happiness and pulled the arc-angel into the kitchen. Feliciano had been cleaning up and had not quite finished so Ludwig gave him a hand and the kitchen was soon clean and ready for the next rush.

"Ve~ Thank you, Ludwig," Feliciano said. "I'm so happy you came."

"Well, I did promise I would come back," Ludwig replied. Feliciano began to play with the apron he was wearing as he seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say next.

"Ve~ Ludwig," he began and then he hesitated a little. "Would you, hmm …. I mean …. well ….. I was thinking …...?"

"Yes, I will go on a date with you," Ludwig was amused at Feliciano's nervousness but he took pity on him and jumped in with everything else. Feliciano's face lit up and he hugged Ludwig and Ludwig hugged him back.

"When?" Feliciano asked, hoping it would be that night or, at least, tomorrow.

"I'm not sure," Ludwig replied. "My work schedule is a little uncertain right now but I promise, I will find time for our date."

"Ve~," Feliciano said and hugged Ludwig again.

* * *

Alfred sensed that he was being followed almost immediately and even more so when The Bad Touch Quartet split up so he went in the opposite direction to the restaurant. He found a populated area and made a performance of scouting for souls, hoping that whoever it was would get bored and just leave but they were either too tenacious or too scared. Alfred had to go to the restaurant, despite having a shadow. He would have to treat Arthur like he was the angel he was hoping to corrupt by using his own brother, not seduction, Ivan would never believe that. The idea made Alfred feel sick but there was no way around it.

He took off and headed for the restaurant.

* * *

Raivis and Toris had spend half the day following Alfred who did not seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary. Just flying around, looking for potential corruptible candidates and then he flew to the restaurant Raivis had followed him to last time and watched him go in. Inside the restaurant, Antonio and Gilbert had already arrived and Antonio was in mortal form while Gilbert remained invisible, as did Matthew and Arthur, watching over Romano while Ludwig was still a physical presence in the kitchen with Feliciano.

"Hello, Matthew," Alfred greeted his brother, barely giving Arthur a glance, making the angel wonder what was wrong but then Alfred caught his eye and flicked his own toward the window, making Arthur realise right away that they might not be alone.

"Hello, Alfred," Matthew replied when Alfred hugged him. He had seen the unspoken message between Arthur and Alfred and caught on to what was going on. "Did you have any trouble getting here?" Alfred smiled at his brother.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, bro," he replied, letting both Matthew and Arthur know that there had been a problem.

"Don't worry, Alfred," Gilbert smirked. "I've been looking after Matthew for you." Matthew went red while Gilbert threw an arm around his shoulder. Romano went into the kitchen, followed by Antonio and the invisible angels and demons followed them.

"Yuck," came Romano's voice from the kitchen. "Why don't you two get a room?" Everyone went in to the kitchen to see the sight of Ludwig with his arms around Feliciano. Ludwig turned to see Arthur and Matthew grinning at him, the two demons smirking and he let go of Feliciano.

"I hope all you did was hug, Potato Bastard," Romano berated the arc-angel. "Anything else is __bleeping_ _ unhygienic." Feliciano came toward his brother with his arms open.

"Any more Hug Therapy and I'll stab you with a spatula," Romano promised and Feliciano wisely backed off. Romano huffed and turned his gaze on Ludwig. "Are you going to be here all damned day?" Ludwig took the hint.

"I'd better go," he replied. "I'll see later." Feliciano kissed him on the cheek and he went out of the kitchen door.

"Ve~ Why did you scare him off, Romano?" Feliciano pouted. "He helped me clean everything up."

"But not get anything ready for the next rush," Romano snapped, pulling out ingredients to prepare more food for the next busy session. "Get your lazy ass moving!" Feliciano washed his hands and began chopping vegetables ready to be cooked while Ludwig came back into the kitchen in his invisible arc-angel form.

"You're not getting out of it if you're staying," Romano said, grabbing Antonio and giving him a hairnet, a chopping board and a paring knife, making him wash his hands before peeling vegetables for Feliciano to chop up while Alfred and Gilbert laughed their heads off.

"Makes a perfect little wife, ja?" Gilbert chortled. When the Vargas Brothers were not looking, Antonio flipped Gilbert off.

And that was the routine throughout the rest of the day, with Feliciano stepping in and out with meals, helping the other waiters and waitresses while Romano kept the food coming. Eventually, the door closed after the last of the diners departed, the waiters and waitresses went home and the kitchen was cleaned. After making sure that everything was turned off and the security alarm was switched on, Romano, Feliciano, Antonio along with the hidden Alfred, Gilbert, Ludwig, Arthur and Matthew were stood outside while Romano locked the restaurant.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Romano," Antonio promised and to annoy Ludwig, and because he wanted to, Antonio leant over and kissed Romano. Romano was shocked for a moment and then he shove Antonio away from him.

"Pervert!" he said, half-heartedly, grabbing Feliciano and storming away. Antonio winked at the others and left, leaving Ludwig with a face like thunder.

"I swear I'm going to kill that demon," he fumed and they all began to follow the Vargas Brothers home. After a trip home full of Feliciano ve~ing over Romano's kiss and Romano slapping him around his head, they arrived safe and only when they were inside did the angels relax.

"Well, that's us for the time being," Arthur commented and looked up at the night sky. "Time for us to go."

"I wish we could spend longer together," Matthew said, wistfully looking at Alfred. Ludwig nodded in agreement.

"That would be nice," he replied, looking at Gilbert. Gilbert thought for a moment and then reached beneath his clothes, undid a chain and pulled out an iron cross necklace. He took his bruder's hand and put the cross in it.

"Look after this for me, bruder," he ordered. Ludwig looked down at the necklace and closed his hand around it.

"I will!" he promised. The two of them hugged and then Ludwig turned back to Arthur and Matthew.

"I'll see you back in Heaven," Ludwig replied and, with one last look at Gilbert, took to the sky. Gilbert stretched his wings out and turned to Alfred.

"And I'll see you in Hell," he said and turned to Matthew. "See you, Birdie!" And he left for Hell while Alfred turned to the two angels.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Matthew," he promised and turned to Arthur. "Can I talk to you before you go?" Arthur turned to Matthew.

"I'll see back in Heaven," he told him and Matthew nodded and hugged his brother.

"See you, Alfred," he said and took off. Alfred took Arthur's hand and pulled him into the air.

"Come with me," he said and they flew into the sky. Raivis and Toris were watching them at a greater distance as they rose into the air to avoid being detected.  They suspected that they had been too close earlier.

"Where are they going?" Raivis asked. Toris did not want to do this because he had done enough, had failed Alfred and did not want to add to his wrongs against him but he had no choice. If he did not, Raivis might report him to Ivan so he gave Raivis an opal stone, a twin to one he had.

"I'll follow them," he replied. "You go tell Ivan and use the stone to find me" The stone would glow brightly in the direction of its twin and would lead Raivis back to Toris. Raivis began winging his way to Hell while Toris followed the pair, hidden by the dark night sky.

* * *

Alfred flew around, looking for a likely spot and saw a deserted park and flew down, hand in hand with Arthur. They drifted down toward a small lake and landed on the grass. After reading the air to make sure no angels or demons were lurking about, Alfred turned to Arthur.

"Sorry about being off-hand earlier," he told him. "I know I was being followed. I had to be careful and not give them anything to carry back to certain people."

"Such as Ivan?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah!" Alfred replied. "As far as he's concern, I'm after you and Gilbert's after Matthew and it's safer that he continues to think so. I've already been challenged as your hunter so I'd hate to think how he would react if he knew about us."

Toris was perched in a tree, using his enhanced demon hearing to listen to every word and wondered what Alfred was talking about. It sounded almost like …..

No, it could not be that!

"Are Matthew and the Vargas Brothers in any danger?" Arthur asked. Alfred shook his head.

"Not right now," he reassured Arthur. "Beside, they have plenty of protection. We need to worry about ourselves but I may have made you an even bigger target than before. Ivan will try to take you from me if only to beat me. I'm sorry, Arthur!"

Toris was more and more confused by Alfred. He was talking like he was protecting the angel but that cannot be right!

"Can't be helped now," Arthur replied. "We'll just have to take things as they come but Ivan will find that I'm no easy target if he hasn't realised it already." Toris jumped when something landed on the branch beside him and he looked round to see Ivan beside him, Raivis and Eduard, a demon with blonde hair and glasses framing his green/blue eyes with wings, horns and tail in royal blue, sitting in another tree. Ivan stared down at the couple as Alfred took Arthur's face in his hands.

"I still worry," he said. "You're as important to me as Matthew now. I love you, Arthur!" And he kissed Arthur deeply and passionately. Arthur was drowning in the feeling of Alfred's lips on his and the feeling of his arms wrapping around him and holding him tight. Alfred had wanted to do this all day and now that he finally had his angel in his arms, he was going to make the most of it. The moment was perfect, so perfect that they never sensed the demons coming in....and it all came to an end with a kolkolkol!

"Well, isn't this sweet, comrade!"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : RUN!


	9. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the run …..

 

** _**Vol IX** _ **

Alfred and Arthur's kiss broke and they both turned toward the voice. Flanked by his three lackeys, Eduard, Toris and Raivis, Ivan stood with a big smile on his face. And a dark aura around him.

"Such a tender moment," he cooed, creepily. "Or would be if you weren't a demon and an angel. Tut, tut, Alfred. Or should I call you traitor?" Alfred grabbed Arthur and pulled him along with him.

"RUN!" he screamed at Arthur who did as he was told and they took to the air.

"AFTER THEM!" Ivan ordered as he flew after them, followed by his henchman and the race was on!

Alfred and Arthur soared high into the sky and began making for the cloud bank in the distance. If they could make it to that, there was a chance they could lose the following demons, Ivan in the lead. The flapping of their wings were getting close so Alfred and Arthur tried to fly faster toward the cloud bank that was getting so tantalizingly closer.

Ivan was furious. He knew Alfred was not serious about hunting Arthur and Matthew but the idea of a love affair between the American demon and the one Ivan had picked out for himself was more than the Russian could stand and it was clear that Alfred had no intention of corrupting Arthur. Alfred would be hunted now as a traitor to Hell and when Ivan caught Arthur, he would make sure that the British angel felt his wrath as he worked slowly to corrupt the angel's soul.

The cloud bank came slowly toward Alfred and Arthur, too slowly for either of their liking. Alfred took out his gun and, without looking backwards, pointed it behind him and fired. Ivan saw the gun and flew out of the way but Toris panicked when the bullet flew past his hair and he collided with Eduard who was flying a little too close to him and Raivis had to stop hard to avoid flying into them both. It bought Alfred and Arthur just enough time as they disappeared into the cloud cover.

White mist surrounded them as they went in deep but kept changing direction rather than going straight. As the other demons flew into the clouds, their vision was obscured and so could not see their quarry but that also meant that their quarry could not see them, like a game of cat and mouse with both blindfolded. Alfred held on tight to Arthur's hand to prevent him from getting lost while listening for any sounds, flapping their own wings as softly as they could to prevent sound without losing height, not they could see if they were drifting downward, anyway. There was a whoosh to the right of them as Eduard passed by, not seeing the demon and angel mere feet away from him and then there was the sound of a collision.

"Humph!" Raivis's voice grunted and the sound of Eduard saying, "Sorry! Can't see a thing!" Alfred looked at Arthur and put his finger to his lips.

"Be quiet!" Ivan ordered. "They're nearby, I can sense Kirkland. If we can't see them, they can't see us but they can hear us. Eduard, you search with me! Toris, fly below the clouds and Raivis, fly above. Call out if you see them!"

Damn! They should have flown out of the clouds the moment they lost them but now above and below would be watched. They had to find a way out so Alfred thought hard. Down would be easier but it meant dealing with Toris which made him feel kind like of a bully, Toris being nowhere near as strong as Alfred, but if they could somehow get the drop on him …..

Alfred pointed down and Arthur slowed the flapping of his wings, feeling gravity take hold. The mist seemed endless until clear air began to appear around their feet. Alfred then turned until he was face down and looked around.

Their luck held. Toris was there but he was looking away from them. Alfred gauged how far away from them he was and pulled Arthur back into the clouds and began to moving toward Toris until he was almost right above him. Signalling for Arthur to stay in the clouds, Alfred took another peak downwards to make sure that Toris was still oblivious to their presence.

Toris had managed to spot Alfred, just for a moment and considered what to do. If he let them escape, he would have to face the wrath of Ivan but he did not want to give Alfred up to Ivan, he already had a lot to make up for where Alfred was concerned. But if he were to be over-powered by Alfred, a much stronger demon than himself..... he looked around to see if Alfred and his angel boyfriend had broken cover yet but he did not look up. Suddenly he was seized in a pair of strong arms and rendered immobile by Alfred who put a hand over his mouth.

"Come on, Arthur," he whispered as the angel appeared from the mist. Arthur pointed to Toris.

"What do we do about him?" he asked. Alfred looked at the Lithuanian demon.

"He'll have to come with us for now," he replied and the little group flew away from the clouds containing the other demons who were oblivious to the fact that their prey had escaped.

* * *

They found an abandoned piece of land and landed with Alfred keeping a tight hold on Toris so it was not until they touched ground that Arthur got a good look at the demon.

“Toris?” He looked so different from the last time Arthur had seen him and it was not just the loss of Toris's feathery wings or their leathery replacements. Toris just to have a kind light in his eyes and a glow in his skin but now the kind look was replaced with a haunted one and his skin was pale and ashen. It was a hard thing for Arthur to witness, a colleague brought down this way.

“You know Toris?” Alfred asked.

“Yes,” Arthur replied. “Toris was an guardian angel until he was taken by demons. We tried to get him back but he became beyond our reach.”

“Ivan corrupted me,” Toris admitted. “I just wasn't strong enough to resist him and my ward fell to him as well because I wasn't there to protect him.”

“Who was your ward?” Alfred asked. Toris looked at him for a moment and the looked down at his feet, flushed with embarrassment. Arthur looked between Toris and Alfred and it became all too clear.

“Alfred was your ward!” he exclaimed.

“You were my guardian angel!” Alfred gasped. All that time in Hell, when he was looking at Toris, he had been looking at the one who had been responsible for his soul. And Ivan had stripped away his protection, had he done that because he targeted Toris or because it made it easier to get to Alfred? Not that it mattered, Ivan was to blame either way.

“I'm sorry, Alfred,” Toris said. “You're a demon because I wasn't the strong guardian angel you need. I tried, believe me I tried but Ivan was …..”

“....Ivan,” Alfred replied. “Even if I blamed you, yelling at you wouldn't change anything. I'm still a demon and I'm on the run from Ivan. Question now is, what do we do now?”

“We need to get somewhere safe,” Arthur said. “I know of a place that will do for a while. Toris, you can come with us if you want.” Toris was tempted, to finally get away from Ivan but if Ivan caught him …... fear overcame Toris and he shook his head.

“If Ivan caught me again,” he shuddered. “You don't know what he would do.....but maybe I can do something from the inside. I don't know what but …...”

“It's your decision,” Arthur replied. “Although, spying on Ivan carries its own risks, you know.”

“I know,” Toris said. “But I have to do something to make it up to Alfred. I just need you to do something for me.”

“What,” Alfred asked.

“Knock me out,” Toris replied. “If I get away from you without a scratch, Ivan will get suspicious. It has to look like you attacked me to get away.”

“You expected me to hit you!” Alfred exclaimed. “Dude, how can I do that to ya?”

“Ivan will do worse if he finds out I just let you go without a fight,” Toris replied and Alfred had to admit he had a point. “Just do it when I least expect....” Toris was cut off as Alfred's fist slammed into his head, knocking him to the ground and out of consciousness.

“Alfred!” Arthur was aghast at Alfred's sudden punch.

“What?” Alfred asked. “Hey, he's right! That's a love tap compared to what Ivan would do to him. He'll have a bruise for a few days and that's it. Ivan's punishment would be a little more permanent but we better get going before he wakes up or Ivan finds us.” Arthur made sure Toris had not suffered any permanent damage before they took to the skies again to take Alfred somewhere Ivan could not find him. 

* * *

Arthur took Alfred to an abandoned church where Alfred could hide, not exactly surroundings that Alfred was comfortable in but, as Arthur pointed out, it was not a place that other demons were likely to look and beggars could not be choosers.

"I'm going to try to find a way to fix this," Arthur promised. "There must be some way of protecting you from the other demons. If there is, someone in Heaven must know of it!" Alfred took Arthur's face in his hands.

"I should be protecting you," he said and lightly kiss the angel. Arthur moved into Alfred's embrace.

"You can't fight all of Hell," he replied and then Alfred realised something.

"My friends!" he exclaimed. "Ivan will accuse them of betraying Hell too. They'll be in danger, I can't leave them to face the music alone." He went to leave but Arthur stood in his way.

"Every demon will be looking for you," he warned. "You go into Hell, you'll be dead before you even find your friends." Arthur thought for a moment then he snapped his fingers.

"I'll go see Ludwig and his grandfather," he said. "They should know a way to, at least warned them. I'll go now!" Alfred grabbed Arthur.

"Ivan's looking for you too!" he stated. "You don't expect me to let you go out there alone, do you?" Arthur took Alfred's face in his hands this time.

"Alfred, Alfred, Alfred!" he said. "Have you never wondered how we angels get to Heaven?" He lightly kissed the demon and let him go. Then he walked up to the derelict altar with the dusty cross stood on it, stopped and held his arms and wings out to the sides. The cross began to glow and bathed the guardian angel in light and Arthur turned back to look at Alfred.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised as the light was sucked back into the cross, taking Arthur with it. Alfred stood, stunned at the vision that had happened in front of him. When the light disappeared, taking his love with him, it felt almost unbearably dark and desolate. He wanted to leave to find and warned his friends but he realised Arthur was right. He would be found and killed before he could get near. He looked at the altar, wondering if he should dared to and then thought, _What the Hell!_ He had nothing to lose and maybe it would help so he knelt down before the altar and prayed for his friends, Matthew, Arthur, in fact for everyone he loved.

Even if Heaven was unlikely to listen to a demon!

* * *

Arthur hurried to find Wolfgang and Romulus, time being of the essence. He did not find Romulus but he found the most important one, Wolfgang who was talking to his grandson.

"Wolfgang," he said, urgently. "We have a problem. The Soul Thief found out that Alfred's been meeting with us. He's been declared a traitor and every demon in Hell will soon be looking for him."

"Matthew's demon brother?" Wolfgang asked. "Does Matthew know?"

"Not yet," Arthur replied. "I haven't seen Matthew but we need help!" Wolfgang shook his head.

"I've already told you," he said. "As much as I might want to, without a soul, we can't bring a demon into Hell." Arthur waved that away.

"That's not the problem," he told him. "I've found a safe place for Alfred for the time being. The problem is Alfred's friends. They don't know either and the first thing Ivan will do is declared the rest of The Bad Touch Quartet traitors as well."

"Gilbert!" Ludwig realised. Wolfgang went pale.

"There must be some way we can warn them!" Arthur plead. Wolfgang thought for a moment.

"There's one way," he said. "As blood relations of Gilbert, we could contact him but we're lacking one thing."

"What?"

"We need a focus point," Wolfgang replied. "Something of Gilbert's we can concentrate our thoughts through. But we don't have that." Ludwig put his hand into his robes and pulled out the iron cross.

"Gilbert gave me this tonight," he said and Arthur and Wolfgang began to feel hope.

* * *

Gilbert's head was filled with thoughts of his awesome Birdie as he made his way through Hell, looking for Antonio. He had given Alfred a hard time about his feelings for Arthur but here he was, doing the exact same thing. Was that not irony at its very finest!

_ _ ' _ Gilbert! ' _

Gilbert looked around to see who had called his name but none of the surrounding demons were looking his way. Deciding he must have misheard someone, he continued in his search for his Spanish friend.

 _ _'_ Gilbert!'_ a different voice said. __'_ If you can hear us, don't say anything! You're the only one who can hear us!'_ Gilbert recognised the voice as Ludwig's.

 

_'Concentrate and think to us,'_ Ludwig advised.  _ 'Großvater is here too. We need to tell you something!'  _ Gilbert focused on Ludwig's voice.

 

_ ' Can you hear me?'  _ he asked.

 

_ 'Just about!' _ Ludwig replied.

 

_'Guten Abend, mein Enkel (Good evening, my grandson),' Wolfgang_ 's voice sounded in his head.

 

_'Großvater!' _ Gilbert exclaimed.

 

_'_ _It's good to hear your voice, Gilbert,'_ Wolfgang replied.  _ 'I wish it was for a better reason now listen carefully. Ivan caught Alfred with Arthur! He'll have Alfred declared traitor the moment he returns to Hell and he'll probably be gunning for you and your friends too. If you and your friends are in Hell right now, get out before Ivan returns! Get out now!' _

Verdammt! Gilbert knew this was not going to end well and now he had to find Antonio and Francis quickly. If they were still in Hell when Ivan returned to break his little piece of news …...

__'_ I'm looking for Antonio and Francis now,' _ he said.  _ 'The moment I find them, we're out of here! Do you know where Alfred is right now?' _

 

_ _ ' _ Arthur has him hidden in an abandoned church,' _ Ludwig replied after a moment.  _ _ ' _ When you're away from Hell, think to us! We're using your necklace as a focus and one of us will be wearing it at all times!' _

 

 _'Will do!'_ Gilbert promised. _'I'm off to find my friends!'_ And he broke contact, urgently looking for his fellow Bad Touch Quartet friends.

* * *

"Now all we can do is wait," Wolfgang declared as Gilbert's thoughts left their heads. Both he and Ludwig were holding on to the iron cross necklace and Wolfgang let go, allowing Ludwig to put it around his neck. "Ludwig, I want you and Arthur to go to the church and wait with Alfred. When Gilbert has found his friends, he'll need to be guided there and protected until we can find a safer place for them all. I'll find Matthew and let him know what's happened."

"Ja," Ludwig agreed and turned to Arthur. "Let's go!" Both angels left while Wolfgang prayed to Higher Power for his demon grandson.

* * *

Alfred did not know how long he had been praying or even if it was doing any good but he continued anyway. He did not see the shadow in the old rotten and broken pews as he continued to ask for protection for the ones he loved.

"A demon praying at an altar for the protection of the souls of angels is not something you see every day," the shadow said, causing Alfred to spin round. The shadow moved into what little light there was and Alfred saw an old priest who seemed even older than his years. Alfred wondered how the old man could even see him when he was in his invisible demon form while he waited for words of condemnation to fall from the priest's lips for daring to defile this holy place. Instead the old priest smiled at him.

"How can you see that I'm here?" Alfred asked.

"At my age, I see many things," the priest replied. "What is your name, my son?"

"I'm called Alfred," Alfred replied. "Aren't you going to shoot fire and brimstone at me and tell to get out of this church?"

"I'm not the 'fire and brimstone' type," the priest replied. "And I'm somewhat curious as to why you're here, praying to something, some would say, had rejected you!"

"Nothing left to lose," Alfred shrugged. "I'm a traitor to Hell, I don't know if my friends are safe and my brother and …... someone else are two angels in danger from a very dangerous demon and I'm powerless to protect them. Heaven might not listen to me but if it does, it might do something to protect two of its own, at least."

"You pray for them," the priest replied. "What of you?"

"What of me?" Alfred said. "Heaven won't protect a demon so why bother?"

"Are you so sure?" the old man persisted. "You're the most unusual demon I've ever heard of, why did you fall in the first place?"

"My brother," Alfred replied. "He was terminally ill and I was offered a chance to chance to cure him by selling my soul. Foolish, I know but the demon I sold my soul to kept his word on that score."

"I sense a 'but'."

"About the time my brother was supposed to die, he was kill in a car accident," Alfred said. "The demon carefully worded our contract so it said Matthew would be cured of his illness."

"But not that he wouldn't die," the priest nodded, understandingly. Alfred nodded.

"Matthew's an angel now," he said. "I was killed the day of his funeral and went to Hell. I didn't give in easily." He pointed to his hair. "I used to be blonde. Now I'm damned." The priest put his hands on Alfred's shoulders.

"A soul that would sacrifice everything for the love of a brother," he said. "And fight for the souls of angels could never be damned. Have faith, my son! The universe has a plan, Heaven has not abandoned you yet!" The old priest turned and walked toward the door.

"Who are you?" Alfred asked. The priest turned and smiled at him again then turned back to the door and left, leaving a perplexed demon behind him.

* * *

Gilbert flew over Hell, desperately trying to find his two friends before Ivan and his henchmen returned and condemned them. They had yet to come back but that happy state of affairs would not last so Gilbert had to find Antonio and Francis fast. He finally spotted them across the punishment pits, stood apart from every other demon, talking. He landed and ran up to them.

"Ah, mon ami!" Francis greeted. "We were wondering when you would get here. Is Alfred with you?" Gilbert grabbed both of their arms.

"Nein, he isn't," he replied, dragging them out of sight. "Something unawesome has happened. Ivan knows!" Both Antonio and Francis went as white as a sheet.

"Sacred Bleu!" Francis breathed. "Is Alfred all right? Ivan didn't get him, did he?" Gilbert shook his head.

"He and Arthur got away," he said. "But Ivan will be back soon and when he comes back, he'll condemn us all as traitors to Hell. We have to go before he returns! We don't even have time to gather our things, we have to leave now!" The three demons took to the air and headed for Hell's portal. The portal to Hell was, quite simply, a massive curtain of red fire, blazing with the heat of a volcano and, as they approached it, the flames began to turn yellow, an indication of a returning demon or a condemned soul. Not knowing who was coming through the portal, Gilbert grabbed his two friends and pulled them into an alcove. Good thing too. The yellow flames parted and Ivan, accompanied by Raivis and Eduard, supporting a still unconscious Toris, burst through the portal, spreading dark aura everywhere.

"I'll kill that traitor and the rest of The Bad Touch Quartet," he promised. "And when I finally get Arthur, I'll make an example of him before I corrupt him, to show what happens when you go against HELL!" He flew past The Bad Touch Quartet's hiding place. He turned to his lackeys. "Spread the word about those traitors. I want every demon hunting for them!" When they were out of sight, Gilbert, Antonio and Francis disappeared through the portal and made good their escape.

* * *

Alfred turned to the light that suddenly filled the church to see the cross glowing again and Arthur and Ludwig appeared in the church. Alfred was happy to see Arthur back and he was even glad to see the arc-angel.

"What's happening about my friends?" he asked.

"Ludwig has a way to talk to his brother," Arthur replied. "We've warned him and he's warning the rest of your friends. We're just waiting for him to contact Ludwig to let us know that they got away in time. Then we'll guide them here."

"And then what?"

"Großvater is looking for a safer place for all of you," Ludwig said. "This church is safe for now but it's not guaranteed that you won't be found here." Suddenly Ludwig froze and look as if he was listening to something he could hear.

"They made it out of Hell just in time," he told them. "But Ivan's in Hell so your transgression is known. They'll be hunting for you now."

"That was inevitable," Alfred replied. Ludwig continued to listen to his brother as he walked to the door."

"I'll guide them here," he said and left Arthur and Alfred alone with the same thoughts was running through both of their minds. They were hunted now! Arthur had the sanctuary of Heaven but The Bad Touch Quartet's situation was less secure. Arthur would take them all into Heaven, even the pervert, if it meant Alfred was safe but the demon quartet could not enter Heaven so how could he and Alfred ever be together?

Alfred wrapped his arms around the British angel he had come to love, holding him close as if he would be torn from his arms at any moment. He had nothing to offer Arthur as  he was now a demon being hunted by his fellows, without a home, not that Hell was much of a home to him to begin with. He had pulled Arthur, Matthew and his friends into this dangerous situation and, if anything happened to any of them, Alfred did not think he would forgive himself.

"What will we do now?" Arthur hoped Alfred would know the answer and Alfred hugged Arthur tighter.

"We'll figure something out," he promised and kissed the top of Arthur's head. "But, in the meantime, I want you to stay in Heaven. You'll be safe, Ivan can't touch you there."

"So I spend the rest of existence in hiding!" Arthur replied. "Not exactly how I envisioned spending my afterlife. I'm an guardian angel! What about my ward?"

"It's too dangerous now," Alfred pointed out. "For you and for him. It might even be dangerous now! Ivan won't hesitate to use Romano against you and you against me now that he knows about us. Matthew will need to stay away too, for his and Feliciano's safety. Heaven will need to assign new guardians to the Vargas Brothers."

"But..." Alfred put his finger on Arthur's lips.

"I know you want to protect them," he said. "But, right now, the best way to do that is to stay away from them." Arthur sighed and nodded.

"You're right," he agreed. "I'll tell Romulus and Wolfgang that the presence of Matthew and I is now a danger. They'll assign someone else." Alfred smiled, glad that Arthur was seeing sense.

"But I'm not staying away from you," Arthur promised. Alfred began to protest but Arthur cut him off before he could start. "We're in this together. We'll see it through together." Alfred smiled at his stubborn lover and kissed him, passionately.

"You never told me about this," Antonio's voice cut through the couple's romantic moment. "No wonder Ivan's making Hell freeze." They looked round to see Antonio staring at them, Ludwig looked just as surprised as Antonio. He knew Arthur had gotten close to Alfred while the demon was meeting his brother but he never suspected this. Gilbert and Francis, of course, were less surprised.

They were interrupted by the light of the cross glowing and Matthew appeared out of it. Gilbert's face lit up with a grin as he ran across the church and engulfed Matthew in a bear-hug, making Ludwig's eyebrows disappear into his hair. Which was slicked back.

"Awesome to see you again, Birdie," Gilbert said and pecked Matthew on the lips, making the shy angel blushed. Again!

"Mein Gott, it's spreading!" Ludwig muttered. Gilbert smirked at his brother as he wrapped his arm around Matthew's shoulders.

"Why so surprised, bruder?" he asked. "He's cute, I'm awesome! And cute! We're a perfect couple!" Matthew went brick red.

"Oh maple!" he groaned.

"Mon Dieu!" Francis exclaimed, looking at the dilapidated church. "This is where you expect us to stay!" Arthur crossed his arms and scowled at the French demon.

"Would you rather be where Ivan can find you, you Hell-bound Frog?" he snapped. "It will be while before Ivan would even consider that you might be hiding in a church. By then, hopefully, we'll have a better safe house."

"Until then, we just lie low," Alfred told the others.

* * *

For the next week, Ivan's lackeys and other demons from Hell searched for The Bad Touch Quartet or 'the traitors' as they had been imaginatively dubbed. Ivan had also given orders to find either Arthur or Matthew as well, to use them to draw out Alfred and his friends but neither hide nor hair was found of either the demonic quartet or the angelic duo. As predicted, the demons did not approach any churches.

Ivan's mood grew fouler with every failure. He wanted those traitors and The Uncorrupted in his hands now but his henchmen did not look like they were going to find them soon so Ivan decided to use another tactic and called Raivis to him. The little demon stood, quivering in the presence of the Russian demon, waiting for him to address him. Ivan turned his gaze on the little Latvian, causing him to shake harder.

"Now Raivis!" Ivan smiled his disturbing smile. "I want you to tell me everything you know and saw of Alfred's dealings with those angels."

And, in Ivan's threatening presence, Raivis related everything he knew while Ivan sorted through the information for something he could use.

* * *

Romano was grumpier than usual and Feliciano was not his excessively happy self as they made their way to the restaurant because neither Antonio nor Ludwig had been near for days. Ludwig had been there in angel form but Feliciano did not know that. Other angels had been assigned to the Vargas Brothers and they followed them to the restaurant and Ludwig was waiting for them when they arrived.

"Any problems?" he asked Feliks.

"No," the green-eyed blonde replied. "The trip here was, totes peaceful. Well, except for, like, Romano's potty mouth."

"Feliciano a little sweetheart though," a brown-haired female angel commented. Elizaveta looked like a sweet young lady but she was a fierce fighter when necessary. A good choice for protecting the brothers. Romano unlocked the door and he and Feliciano went in, followed by the angels. Ludwig, Feliks and Elizaveta sensed it right away.

"DEMONS!" Ludwig shouted as, suddenly, figures leaped from the shadows to overwhelmed both humans and angels. Outside, people walking near the restaurant were suddenly thrust into a nightmare of flying glass and fire as the restaurant exploded.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : WHAT HAPPENED!


	10. Vol X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened at Paradiso Italiano?

 

** _**Vol X** _ **

 

Blue lights flashed and sirens wailed as firemen directed their hoses at the burning building that, an hour earlier, had once been the Paradiso _ Italiano _ restaurant as the police set up barriers to keep back people who had come to see what was going on. Rumours flew! Was it a gas explosion? Was it a bomb? Who would want to harm the Vargas Brothers? Sure, Romano could be a little unapproachable but there was no real harm in him and everybody loved Feliciano so what had happened?

* * *

_ An hour earlier... _

"DEMONS!"

Shadows dove on both humans and angels alike. The demons were in mortal form so the brothers could see them and took them for thieves so Romano began to fight back but a human against demons was definitely an uneven fight, even with Feliks on side who was fighting as many of them as he could. One of the shadows grabbed Feliciano and he tried to shake it off but then suddenly it was ripped away by something unseen as Ludwig, seeing his crush in the grip of a demon, went to his rescue, pulling the demon off Feli who ran for the kitchen, followed by Elizaveta who had already beaten down two demons and she was determined to protect her charge.

While his fellow demons were fighting the humans and two of the angels, Ivan approached Ludwig after he pulled Eduard off one of the humans and threw him to one side. The human ran for another room followed by the female angel and the arc-angel went to follow them but Ivan stepped into his path. Ludwig summoned his weapon, a sword, and raised it toward the demon who was brandishing his pipe and blocking his way.

"Where are they?" Ivan asked as if he was asking the way to the train station. "Tell us where they are and we'll leave you and the humans alone, da?" Of course, Ivan was lying. Three angels and two souls was too good to pass up and Ivan had no intention of doing so as it would increase his standing in Hell, all the better for Ivan's future plans to rule Hell. Fortunately, Ludwig suspected that Ivan would not let them go and the fact that one of the demons that Ivan was after was his brother was also a consideration.

"I don't make deals with demons!" he replied, adamantly. "Especially you, Soul Thief! And you won't get the humans either." Ivan raised his pipe and smiled.

"Have it your way, arc-angel," he said and charged.

* * *

Feliks was not the most powerful angel but he was holding his own, defending Romano when he was seized from behind. He struggled to throw the demon off and somehow managed to turn around and found himself staring into the eyes of his captor, one of which had a yellowing bruise around it.

"Toris!"

"Feliks!" Toris was so surprised to see his long lost love that his grip loosen and Feliks escaped his grasp. Feliks backed away from Toris with a disbelieving look.

"I knew you were corrupted by Ivan," he exclaimed. “But....” Feliks just stared at Toris and Toris looked ashamed. Feliks wanted to question Toris more but other demons joined the battle and the couple were separated by the fight.

* * *

Three demons pursued Feliciano and Elizaveta into the kitchen and Feli grabbed a knife and held it, shaking, in front of him but the demons just grinned as they approached. Then Feliciano was greeted with the sight of one of his frying pans seemingly rising into the air as Elizaveta picked it up and began hitting the demons with it. Feli thought he had to deal with ghosts as well thieves and fainted.

One by one, the demons went down under Elizaveta's expertise with the frying pan and she had just gotten the situation under control when Ludwig and Ivan crashed into the kitchen, causing Elizaveta to fall on top of Feliciano as Ludwig blocked Ivan's pipe with his sword. More demons came into the kitchen, overwhelming Elizaveta and grabbed the unconscious Feliciano as Ludwig and Ivan continued to battle.

"I suggest you stop," Ivan warned and pointed to Feliciano and Elizaveta in the grip of Ivan's lackeys. One had a knife to the unconscious Feliciano's throat and another had his hand around Elizaveta's neck threatening to break it. Ludwig looked round, trying to assess the situation, whether he could free the two of them without getting one of them killed. Although killing Feliciano would break the rules, he was worried that an over-zealous demon might do something stupid if he tried to save Elizaveta first. At the very least, they might take Feliciano away while he was rescuing Elizaveta. He could not see a way to pull it off so Ludwig lowered his sword.

"Good choice!" Ivan commented and then knocked Ludwig unconscious with his pipe. Elizaveta screamed as he went down. There was a noise as Eduard and the other demons dragged an unconscious Romano and a struggling Feliks through the kitchen door.

"We have them, Ivan," Eduard reported. Ivan smiled.

" _ Good!"  _ Ivan replied. "This should draw out The Uncorrupted and Jones and, maybe the rest of the traitors too. Take them to the warehouse and guard them!" Elizaveta and Feliks were dragged out of the back door as other demons picked up Ludwig and he, along with Romano and Feliciano, were carried out while Ivan looked around the kitchen.

"Let's leave the love-birds a little message, da?" he said to himself. He went over to the gas pipe and ripped it from the wall. He let the escaping gas build for a little while and then picked up the gas lighter and use it.

_BOOM!_

Ivan walked unscathed from the flames and destruction, took his demon form and took off to follow his henchmen.

* * *

When Ludwig and the temporary guardian angels failed to return to Heaven, Wolfgang and Romulus sent another two angels to check on them and they returned with worrying news.

"Are you sure there was no one in the restaurant when it exploded?" Romulus asked, desperately. It terrified him that his grandsons might have been in the restaurant when it blew but, that said, if they were dead, Elizaveta and Feliks would have brought their souls to Heaven but they were missing too, along with Ludwig.

"The fire chief said there was no evidence of any bodies in the rubble," Tino replied, relaying what they had heard the fire-fighters say. "He doesn't think anyone was inside although people nearby said they saw Romano and Feliciano go in shortly before the explosion."

"He also said th' fire might 'ave been d'liberate," Berwald added. "There was evid'nce that a gas pip' 'ad been ripp'd from th' wall." Wolfgang nodded to Tino and Berwald and dismissed them. Romulus turned to Wolfgang.

"Ivan?"

"We'll have to assume so," Wolfgang agreed with his friend. "Which means he has all of them."

"He wants to draw out Arthur and then The Bad Touch Quartet," Wolfgang surmised. "Which means that he'll need somewhere to hold them. He can't take two living humans into Hell, it's against the rules and Ivan knows better than to kill them so they're still somewhere in the mortal world."

"Do we tell Arthur and the others?" Romulus asked. "They go after them and that's just what Ivan wants!" Wolfgang thought for a moment.

"We can't keep it from them," he replied. "If Ivan's taken Ludwig, Elizaveta and Feliks into Hell, they're lost to us but, if Ivan still has them in the mortal world, we can all work together to get them back. All we need to know is where is they are! Ivan won't just face Arthur and The Bad Touch Quartet, he'll face the entire force of Heaven!"

* * *

Ludwig's head hurt as he slowly returned to consciousness and he opened his eyes. As his eyes focused, he realised he was bound with chains made of a demonic metal that kept him immobile, sat against a wall. He looked round and spotted Elizaveta and Feliks, also bound with chains, a little distance from him and it looked like they were in a empty warehouse. He saw demons patrolling the the upper floors and, he suspected, the roof and then he spotted Romano and Feliciano in the nearest corner. They had been secured with rope and they were just staring at Ludwig, Feliks and Elizaveta.

"They can see us, Ludwig," Elizaveta warned him as Feliciano stared at Ludwig.

"Ve~ Ludwig!" Ludwig turned toward the stunned Italian who could not keep his eyes off the wing-adorned German.

"Ja, Feliciano!" Ludwig sighed.

"You're an angel?"

"I'm an arc-angel," he admitted. "I was sent to watch over your bruder when he and your guardian angels came to the attention of demons." Romano turned to look at Elizaveta and Feliks.

"Are those our guardian angels?" he asked.

"We're your temporary guardian angels," Elizaveta told him. "Your original guardians themselves became endangered and their presence became an extra danger to you. It was decided for everyone's safety that they should be replaced for the time being but we didn't think the demons come after you."

"Ve~ Who were our original guardian angels?" Feliciano asked. He was curious about the beings who had been watching over them.

"Romano was watched over by Arthur," Ludwig replied. "Your guardian angel was Matthew."

"Those guys from the restaurant!" Feli exclaimed. "I knew I knew that guy!" Ludwig smiled. Romano huffed.

"Haven't done such a great job of protecting us so far, Potato Bastard!"

"You haven't made it easy," Ludwig snapped back. "Hanging around with a demon almost every chance you get!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Antonio!"

"WHAT!" Romano could not have heard Ludwig right.

"Antonio's a demon!" Ludwig revealed. "In fact, he was the reason I was assigned to you in the first place. He and his friends are wanted by the other demons now so they're no longer a threat but a bigger threat took their place."

"Nice you think so highly of me, arc-angel," Ivan's voice cut in as he walked into the warehouse followed by Eduard, Toris and Raivis. "Just hand over Kirkland and The Bad Touch Quartet and the threat ends. You and the humans can walked away."

"Nice offer," Ludwig snarled back. "One problem, Soul Thief! I don't believe you! Find them yourself!" Ivan smiled and gave off his dark aura.

"Have it your own way," he replied and left. Eduard and Raivis followed him but Toris turned to Feliks.

"Feliks, I …... "

"Why are you, like, doing this?" Feliks demanded. "You know it's, totes, wrong!" Toris looked ashamed and looked away from his former lover.

"Don't be so hard on him, Feliks," Elizaveta said. "We all know Ivan's reputation, I doubt he had much choice, after all. Ivan captured and corrupted him so I suppose that made him Ivan's in some way." Toris sighed.

"It never stopped The Bad Touch Quartet from telling him to suck it," he admitted, honestly. "Truth is Ivan's stronger than I am and I was too scared to stand up to him. I'm sorry, Feliks! I should have fought back but I let myself get corrupted and left Alfred without the protection of a guardian angel so Ivan wouldn't......." Toris stopped like he had said to much.

"So Ivan wouldn't what?" Feliks asked. "What did he threaten you with?" Toris looked down, his face red.

“He threatened to come after you,” he admitted. “And corrupt you in my place in front of me before he killed me. So I allowed myself to be corrupted and let Ivan take my soul to save you but I never thought that Alfred would pay the price too.”

"That was, like, a really stupid thing to do," Feliks continued. "But I can't be too mad at you because you, like, did it for me!" Toris shrugged.

"For all the good that it did," he replied. Feliks shuffled closer to Toris.

"We'll find a way to change it, Toris!" Feliks promised. "We'll, like, change you back somehow!" Ludwig said nothing. He knew what his Großvater had told Arthur and knew that Feliks's hopes of saving his boyfriend were slim to none. But Feliks was adamant.

"I'll save you Toris!" he promised.

* * *

"I'm going after them!" Arthur declared, summoning his bow and went to leave the church. "It's my fault! I was their target!" Alfred grabbed Arthur while Wolfgang stood in his way. He had come to tell Arthur and Matthew what had happened and Arthur had reacted just how Wolfgang expected him to.

"That's just what Ivan wants you to do," he told him. "Besides, they're somehow masking their auras so we don't know where they're being held. You can't go out there without a plan."

"He's right, Arthur," Matthew agreed. "We can't do anything if we don't know where they are but how can we find out?"

"If it's Ivan's plan to draw you out," Wolfgang replied. "He'll find a way to let you know where to go and when they do, we have angels ready to mobilise. You won't be fighting him alone, Ivan took three angels and two uncorrupted souls, giving us reason to move against him."

"This is unawesome, Großvater," Gilbert said. "I've only just got Ludwig back, I can't lose my bruder again!" Wolfgang put a reassuring hand on Gilbert's shoulder.

"We'll get him back," he promised. "We'll get them all back. All we need to know is when, where and be able to mobilise at a moment's notice. I'll go and sort that now." Wolfgang stood before the cross and the light pulled him to Heaven.

"I suppose all we can do is wait now," Arthur replied, although staying put was not something he was happy about. "Until Ivan makes another move." He hated the idea of Romano and Feliciano in Ivan's hands and he was not happy about Ludwig being held captive by the Russian demon either. He only hoped that they were strong enough to withstand what was ahead.

But Ivan was soon to make a move.

* * *

Eduard did not want to do this! He had orders to waylay a certain angel and 'leave a message' to let Arthur and Alfred know where to come if they wanted the humans and angels back. And the certain angel was Tino!

Ivan was fond of his cruel little games. Sending a message in this way also proved he could make his lackeys jump through hoops and do things, even to those closest to them. When they were alive, Tino had been his best friend, like brothers who would do anything for each other and then Ivan had crossed his path and told him that Tino would be caught up in a robbery and shot. Once convinced of Ivan's prediction, Eduard did not hesitate to make the deal and, when the robbery happened, Tino survived the gun shot but then he was always going to. Eduard had damned his soul for nothing.

He was hanging around the wreck that used to be the restaurant, waiting to see if any angels turned up and if any of them were Tino. He really did not want to be here! If any angel did turn up, he prayed it was not Tino! Unfortunately, his hopes went unfulfilled but he was relieved to see that Tino was not alone as his husband in life and in Heaven was with him. He could not approach Tino while Berwald was with him and he was praying that Berwald did not leave.

* * *

Berwald and Tino had been sent back to the restaurant to try and find some clue as to where their friends and the Vargas Brothers might be. They picked through the wreckage and burnt tables and chairs to the kitchen which was a mangled, twisted mess with pots dented and and blasted across the room. The blast area was obvious, with everything blown away from the gas pipe that had exploded and the worktops were blackened with soot. This had been the pride and livelihood of the Vargas Brothers and now it was a burnt-out ruin. It made Tino weep to think of it.

"There's noth'ng!" Berwald said as he moved a set of catering shelves that blocked his way. "Not a hint o' where they might 'ave been taken ta!" Tino sighed.

"I haven't found anything either," he admitted. "Ivan wants Arthur and Alfred so he'll have some way of revealing where he wants them."

"Th't worries ma," Berwald replied. "How does 'e plan ta reveal it?" Tino shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. "But we need to find out if we want to get our friends back. This is going to be a battle, Berwald! We'll have to fight to get them back!" Berwald wrapped his arms around the Finnish angel and held him tight.

"I'll ke'p yer safe," he promised. Tino put his head on Berwald's shoulder and smiled.

"I can take care of myself, you know," he replied.

"I know," Berwald said. "I like takin' care o' yer." And he softly kissed Tino on the lips and Tino hugged him again.

"You always did when we were alive," Tino commented.

"You and Peter!" Berwald replied. "It was a 'appy life!"

"Yes, it was!" They held each other for a little while and finally separated.

"Let's g'!" Berwald said. "There's nothin' 'ere."

"I'll follow you," Tino replied. "I just want to take another look round, in case we missed something. I'll see you back in Heaven." Berwald kissed his cheek.

"Be car'ful!" he said and left the wrecked building. Eduard groaned as he watched Berwald leave, knowing that Tino was alone. He went into the restaurant and reluctantly made his way to the kitchen.

* * *

Tino sensed the demon presence just as he was grabbed from behind and he began to struggle. The demon must have been waiting for one of them to leave to get the drop on the other, he should have gone with Berwald. Suddenly the demon shoved him into one of the ruined worktops and he gasped as the edge crashed into his chest and drove the breath out of him. He grabbed at the top and just succeed in pulling damaged pans down on him as he fell to the floor. He looked up at the demon who had attacked him and his jaw dropped in shock.

"Eduard!" Eduard looked back at him, his horns sticking out from his hair and his wings spread out round him. And the regretful look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Tino," he said. "I have no choice!" Before Tino could get up to defend himself, Eduard knelt over him, grabbed the front of his robes and drew his fist back. Tino braced himself for the blow but Eduard's fist did not move. Instead it shook and finally fell to his side.

"I can't do it!" he declared, getting up and walking away from Tino. "I was ordered to give you a beating and send you back to Heaven with a message but I can't do that to someone I love like a brother. I'm sorry, Tino!" Tino was relieved that Eduard had not completely gone over to the dark side.

"I thought you might fail," came Ivan's voice as the Russian demon came into the kitchen and came up to Eduard. "I'll deal with you later." And with that he lashed out, back-handing Eduard across the room and sending him into a wall. He then produced his pipe and loomed over Tino.

"Now!" he said. "I want you to take a little message to Kirkland and Jones!"

* * *

Feliciano looked over at Ludwig, still finding it hard to believe that the man he was growing to love was an arc-angel. Funny how he had compared Ludwig to a warrior angel when he first saw him, only to find out that's exactly what he was. He stared at Ludwig's beautiful white wings and his hands itched to touch the plumage to see if it was as soft as it looked. He began to shift himself over a little at a time in Ludwig's direction.

"Where are you going, idiota?" Romano hissed. Feliciano just kept shifting until, finally, he made it over to Ludwig. Ludwig looked at the Italian who just looked back at him.

"I'm sorry," Ludwig said. "I couldn't tell you the truth about me and why I was here. I'm sorry I lied to you!"

"Ve~ I don't remember you lying to me," Feliciano replied as he sat with hands still tied behind his back but he was still able to rub his fingers against the wings. The feathers _were_ as soft as they looked. "You didn't tell me you were an angel but you didn't tell me you weren't either. And you do provide protection services." Feliciano rested his head on Ludwig shoulder. "Ve~ I'm in love with an angel!" Ludwig tilted his head to rest on top of Feliciano's.

"Feli, I …..," Ludwig was interrupted by Ivan suddenly stomping into the warehouse, dragging Eduard with him. Eduard was the worse for wear, sporting a black eye, a bloody nose and he seemed to be protecting his ribs on his right side. He cried out as Ivan threw him to the floor and Toris and Raivis went to his aid.

"What happened?" Toris asked as he tried to tend to his fellow demon.

"What always happens when my orders are not followed!" Ivan declared. "You should have done what I told you. Your old friend might have suffered less." Ludwig had a bad feeling about that.

"What old friend?" he asked. Eduard looked up at him with pain-filled eyes.

"Tino!" Ludwig closed his eyes and groaned. Berwald would be ready to kill when he found out. There was no one more important to him than Tino.

"No matter!" Ivan declared. "The message will be delivered and I'll get Kirkland and the Bad Touch Quartet. I will win!"

"Don't count on it!" Ludwig said as Feliciano took his head from his shoulder. "You won't get them! They have Heaven's help!" Ivan gave his disturbing smile.

"And we have you!" he pointed out. "And I have Hell's help. Toris!" Toris skittered up to Ivan and stood shaking, waiting to hear what Ivan wanted.

"Return to Hell!" he ordered. "Tell the other demons to come here and tell them to prepare for a battle!" Toris did not dare argue and scampered off to do his errand. Ivan turned back to Ludwig and smiled.

"Soon we'll see which side is best," he said and approached Ludwig. "Now what shall we do in the meantime?" Elizaveta and Feliks looked on horrified as Ivan threw Feliciano to one side and loomed over Ludwig.

* * *

Tino dragged himself to the nearest church, limping badly with blood trickling down the side of his face and holding his ribs. His jaw was badly bruised, possibly fractured and each step pulled a grunt of pain from the Finnish angel. He limped down the aisle, passing the worshippers and the priest who could not see him. Stood before the cross, Tino painfully held out his arms and the light shone and took Tino to Heaven with the people in the church none the wiser except for a sudden, spiritual feeling.

* * *

Berwald had become worried when Tino did not return after a long time and was heading for the Gates of Heaven to go and find his 'wife'. The Gates of Heaven were nick-named the Pearly Gates, not because they were actually made of pearls but because they had a pearly sheen to them. The gates themselves were simply, elegant and very high and as Berwald approached them, they opened, indicating that an angel was returning, possibly with a soul. As he came closer there was a flash of light and Tino appeared. For a moment Berwald was relieved but then he noticed that Tino was holding himself awkwardly. His heart went into his mouth when Tino collapsed and he ran to his side, gathering Tino up into his arms and, after seeing his injuries, carried him bride-style into Heaven and to the healer angel. Yao Wang had been an apothecary and healer when he was alive and he had been in Heaven longer than most, tending to injuries incurred in battles with demons. When Berwald rushed in with Tino, the pony-tailed Chinese angel immediately directed him to put Tino on a cushioned examination table so he could look at him. Tino's breathing was laboured and he whimpered as Berwald set him down as gently as he could. He never should have left Tino alone, this was his fault! Berwald felt as if he could never forgive himself.

Yao suspected that Tino's jaw was broken and he believed that a few ribs were also broken, possibly his ankle too. As he examined Tino's head, he discovered the injury that concern him most. There was a very bad gash just under Tino's hairline and Yao turned to his pots on a nearby table, picking up a mortal and pestle. Opening three of the pots, he took pinches of what was in them and began to grind the concoction up. When he was finished, he tipped the powder into a vial and added a green liquid, shaking it to mixed it all up. Then he took it back to Tino and applied a few drops to the head injury where the liquid fizzed in the wound in a way that looked painful but got no reaction from Tino as the wound began to heal before their eyes and Tino's eyes fluttered opened. He took a deep breath and winced with the pain.

"Yer safe now," Berwald told him as he held Tino's hand. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't 'ave left yer." Tino squeezed his hand.

"You couldn't have know this would happen," he replied, painfully as Yao tended to his ribs and his jaw was hurting him. "Berwald, I need you to get Romulus or Wolfgang. It's important!" Berwald was torn between doing what Tino asked and staying with him but, with a look at Tino, Berwald left Yao to tend to Tino's injuries while he went to get the two angels. He managed to find them quickly and they hurried back to Yao's to find Tino bandaged up and sipping a herbal tea that Yao had made to aid his healing. He went to sit up when Romulus and Wolfgang came in with Berwald but he winced in pain and Yao made him lie back down.

"What happened to you, Tino?" Wolfgang said, gently.

"I was attacked in the restaurant," Tino revealed. "An old friend was there, Eduard. He's a demon now!"

"An old friend at'acked yer!" Berwald exclaimed. Tino shook his head.

"Eduard was ordered to but he couldn't do it," he replied. "It was Ivan. He followed to make sure Eduard did what was ordered. Ivan will punish Eduard for his disobedience and he did it instead. He had a message!" Romulus and Wolfgang looked at each other.

"He said if we wanted Ludwig and the others back," Tino continued. "We have to take Arthur and The Bad Touch Quartet to a warehouse in the East Dock and trade them. If we don't take them there tomorrow at noon, they'll kill Ludwig and the others and corrupt the Vargas brothers."

"Which warehouse?" Wolfgang was already thinking of a plan.

* * *

_ _ Noon, next day.... _ _

Arthur and The Bad Touch Quartet stood outside the warehouse while Ivan stood within the doors, his henchmen holding the angels and the Vargas brothers. Romulus, Wolfgang, Matthew and Berwald stood with Arthur and the others as the face off went down.

"Just send Kirkland and the traitors," Ivan ordered. "And I'll send your friends and the mortals. No sudden moves or the angels die and the mortals suffer!" Romulus nodded to Ivan and then nodded to Arthur, Alfred, Gilbert, Antonio and Francis and they began to move forward. Ivan nodded to his lackeys and they released their captives. Feliciano immediately moved to help Ludwig who moved painfully and sported bruises. Wolfgang's lips tightened at the sight of his grandson's injuries.

The two groups moved closer to each other as the tension mounted. Ivan was still smiling that creepy smile and Romulus and Wolfgang were poker-faced. Berwald wanted nothing more than to get the demon who had harm his Tino and the three Baltic demons were trembling, the marks of Ivan's punishment still visible on Eduard. The two groups took a few more steps and met in the middle and Arthur gave Ludwig a look as if to say 'be ready'. A trap was suspected and a trap was sprung!

"NOW!" Ivan yelled and demons steamed from everywhere and headed for the angels and the traitor demons. The angel side looked to be overwhelmed.....only looked! Suddenly, angels began raining from the skies and the battle was joined.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : Angels vs Demons. FIGHT!


	11. Vol XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the battle begin …….

 

** **Vol XI** **

 

_ The day before... _

"Those are Ivan's demands," Wolfgang stood in the derelict church, explaining what had happened to Alfred. "You, Arthur, and the rest of the Bad Touch Quartet are to show up at Warehouse 13 on the East Dock where Ivan will exchange Ludwig, Elizaveta, Feliks and the Vargas brothers for you." Arthur, Alfred, Gilbert, Antonio and Francis looked at each other.

"You know Ivan won't let any of us leave, don't you," Gilbert said. "Not even Ludwig. That unawesome S.O.B will grab what he can, when he can. You can bet he'll have demons hiding and waiting!"

"We're aware of that," Romulus replied. "We've no intention of giving anyone up to him and we'll have our own hidden army. If Ivan wants a fight, we'll give him one. Tino has a lot of friends just waiting for a chance to get the demon who hurt him."

"How is Tino?" Arthur asked.

"He'll b' sore fer a wh'le," Berwald replied. He had accompanied the two angels to the church, wanting to be part of the ambush against Ivan for what he had done to Tino. "But he'll rec'ver!" Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He liked Tino and Berwald for what they did for Peter and hated the idea of the kind-hearted angel being hurt but he was angry that Tino had suffered at Ivan's hands in the first place.

"If he does that just to send a message," Gilbert said. "I'm afraid of what he's doing to mein bruder. I know what Ivan's like! He's a totally unawesome sadist." Matthew put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get your brother back!" he promised. Gilbert put his hand over Matthew's.

"Ja," he replied. "And we'll do without sacrificing yours!"

"Arc-angels Lukas and Matthias will be waiting," Wolfgang said. "They're friends of Tino and Berwald and eager to avenge a fellow Nordic. Some of Yao's younger brothers and sisters will be joining the battle too, as well as Lukas's younger brother Emil but he'll be with Yao and the other healers at Lukas's insistence. Emil's not happy about that but he's not a warrior! Do you know who Ivan might get on side." Wolfgang addressed The Bad Touch Quartet.

"Toris, Eduard and Raivis," Alfred replied. "Any of the demons who were tricked out of their souls by Ivan, excluding us of course. Sadik might join in for the hell of it, he's always up for a fight. Not sure about Vladimir, he's more for punishing the tainted than corrupting innocent souls or battling angels. Ivan could call on quite a few demons."

"But!" Francis added. "Most are demons who were victims of Ivan's trickery so they'll back him up out of fear but their hearts won't be in it and that's Ivan's weakness. Your angels believe in what they're fighting for and they'll give it everything they have. You just need to get the upper-hand!"

"Any suggestions on how we get the advantage?" Romulus asked.

"Don't reveal your hand too soon!"

* * *

_ Warehouse 13. East Dock ….. _

  
  


White feathers and leathery membrane mixed as angels and demons clashed while swords clanged as they struck each other and arrows flew. Arthur and The Bad Touch Quartet grabbed Ludwig and the others and tried to fly them to safety but a group of demons blocked their way.

"And where are you little birds going to?" a tall, dark-haired demon with huge, black wings and a white half-mask, welding a enormous curved sword said. Demons fanned out around him, blocking their escape. "Ivan would like a word!" Arthur flapped his wings harder to keep himself aloft while carrying Romano, Matthew doing the same, holding Feliciano. Alfred and Gilbert were helping Ludwig and Antonio and Francis were escorting Elizaveta and Feliks. Alfred and Gilbert passed Ludwig to Elizaveta and Feliks, joining Antonio and Francis and bracing themselves for battle.

"Out of the way, Sadik!" Alfred warned, producing his pistol while Gilbert took out his sword, Antonio got out his axe and Francis unsheathed his rapier. They were prepared to fight to allow Arthur and Matthew to take Romano and Feliciano to safety. And hopefully stay there!

"Or what, traitor?" Sadik sneered and turned to his entourage. "Get them!" The other demons crowded in and two fell as they were shot down by Alfred. Antonio swung his axe, scattering demons and ripping through the wing membrane of one and he screamed in pain and dropped. Francis engaged another demon with a sword in a duel as Alfred fired again while Sadik kept back, waiting for his moment while Gilbert engaged another demon in a sword fight.

Arthur and Matthew flew to a patch of trees on the ground with their burdens, Feliciano shaking with fear and Romano swearing a blue streak as they raced to the ground with Elizaveta and Feliks following with Ludwig. They landed and took their charges out of sight of the combat in the skies above them.

"Stay here," Arthur ordered as Elizaveta and Feliks landed and laid Ludwig down. "And please look after Ludwig." Ludwig tried to struggle to his feet but was being held down by Elizaveta.

"I should fight with you," he insisted, trying to shrug Elizaveta off.

"You're in no condition," Arthur replied. "You can barely stand. Besides, we need someone to protect Romano and Feliciano, should any demons get pass us." Ludwig stopped struggling, sighed and nodded.

"Hey, Eyebrows," Romano said, testily. "We can protect ourselves, you know!"

"Against demons?" Arthur replied and Romano fell silent. "Stay here out of sight!" Arthur turned, produced his bow and left to returned the fight. As he flew toward the fight and Alfred, Arthur heard the flapping of wings behind him and looked back to see Matthew following him with his own bow in his hands.

"Go back, Matthew!" Arthur ordered. "You're not ready for a battle on this scale."

"We all need to fight, Arthur," Matthew replied. "I'm sure Alfred wants you to stay out of it too."

"Like that was ever going to happen!"

* * *

In the chaos of the clash of demons and angels, Ivan lost sight of Arthur and Alfred for a moment and then he spotted their group flying into the sky, Arthur carrying Romano, Matthew carrying Feliciano and Alfred and Gilbert carrying Ludwig, followed by Elizaveta and Feliks and the rest of the Bad Touch Quartet. Ivan smiled and took to the air after them, only for something to hit him from behind and bring back down to the ground.

He hit the ground hard, then he heard something land nearby and he turned to see an angel standing over him. He had seen big angels, fought them but this was the first angel he had seen who was as big as him, had not know such an angel existed but there he was. Blonde with an impressive wing span, carrying a massive broadsword. Stern blue-eyes glared out from behind square, half-rimmed glasses and, although he showed very little emotion, Ivan got the feeling that this angel was completely and utterly pissed off and he scrambled to his feet.

"Privet," he said, casually. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" The angel gave him a dead glare.

"I'm Berwald!" he declared. "T'no's husband!” Ah! Now Ivan understood!

"And how is little Tino?" he asked in a tone that was almost not a mockery. Almost! Berwald swung his broadsword to bring it down on Ivan's head. Ivan brought up his pipe up to block the sword but it still connected hard enough for the vibration to rattle Ivan's arm. Berwald swung again, this time from the left and Ivan barely got his pipe round in time, the sword bouncing off it with a clang. This angel was going to be a challenge and the closest challenge Ivan had ever had was when he dragged Alfred into Hell, the American had put up quite a fight before succumbing. Berwald swung at Ivan's head and Ivan ducked and took a swing at Berwald's knee, revelling in the impact. Berwald's leg collapsed from under him and he brought his sword up to block the pipe that was coming toward his head.

"I enjoyed the way little Tino screamed," Ivan said, smiling. "I hope to hear it again some day. Maybe for longer next time!" Berwald pushed Ivan away and struggled back to his feet.

"I'll kill ya f'rst!" He declared and lunged his sword forward. Ivan dodged but not fast enough to avoid the sword taking a slice out of his side. Ivan managed to avoid crying out in pain but that had hurt and this angel could defeat him if he did not bring him down first. Berwald swung his sword again but Ivan batted it away with his pipe then reverse the swing and struck Berwald in the side of his head. Stunned, Berwald went down on his stomach. He tried to get back up but a foot between his wings forced him back to the ground. Ivan put his foot on Berwald and held him down, brandishing his pipe and smiling down at the helpless angel.

"Poor Tino," he said. "I guess his husband won't be coming home." And he raised his pipe to bring it down on Berwald's head when he was suddenly blasted off his feet and hurled eight feet away. He shook his head and looked up, seeing two angels hovering above him. Both were blonde, one spiky haired and the other with one side held back with a cross barrette and a curl sticking out to the left. The spiky haired one was carrying an axe that was as big as the one Antonio welded, if not bigger. The other angel had his hands close together and, in the centre was a glowing ball of light.

Lukas and Matthias! He had heard of these two arc-angels, they worked as a team. The Norwegian and the Dane were formidable together, more than even Ivan could handle so he decided to cut his losses, even as the next ball of light flew at him. He took to the air, avoiding the light ball which exploded where he had been standing. Lukas landed to help Berwald while Matthias pursued Ivan, swinging his axe at him that Ivan barely avoided, still smarting from Berwald's blow. He disappeared in a crowd of angels and demons fighting and Matthias returned to assist Lukas and Berwald.

* * *

Alfred fired off a few rounds, hitting one demon and wounding another while Gilbert, Francis and Antonio tackled some of the others but the odds were against them as Sadik faced off against Alfred, brandishing his sword.

"How long do you think you can keep this up, Alfred?" Sadik asked. "You know, I did hope The Bad Touch Quartet would knock Ivan off his pedestal. I'm no more enamoured of Ivan that you are but then you had to turn traitor so now we're on opposite sides. Pity!"

"Yes, well it's funny how things work out," Alfred replied with his gun trained on Sadik. "Sorry to disappoint you!"

"Ah well!" Sadik sighed. "Have it your own way!" And he came at Alfred, dodging the bullets Alfred fired in his direction. Alfred avoided the sweep of Sadik's sword as it almost grazed his stomach. Sadik regretted having to fight Alfred, he really thought the young demon had what it took to take Ivan's place as top demon but, alas, that would never happen now!

Arufureddo felt himself being grabbed by demons who had come, unseen, from behind him and held him immobile as Sadik moved in for the kill.

"Sorry about this, Alfred," he said as he went to run his sword through Alfred. Then an arrow flew past and struck the demon on Alfred's right, distracting Sadik from killing Alfred while Alfred pistol-whipped the demon on his left. Sadik ducked as another arrow sped his way. Alfred looked to see Arthur and Matthew shooting arrows at the demons fighting The Bad Touch Quartet, making their enemies scatter. They continued to fire, giving The Bad Touch Quartet the chance to get the upper-hand and Sadik and what was left of his group decided that this was a fight they were not going to win and ran.

"Why didn't you stay where you were safe?" Alfred demanded, not wanting his lover in any danger.

"That goes for you too, Birdie," Gilbert agreed.

"This is our fight too," Arthur replied, adamantly. "The others are in a place that's under cover and they have Elizaveta and Feliks watching over them and Ludwig should recover soon. We're needed here!" Alfred flew over to Arthur.

"Stay close!" he warned. Gilbert moved closer to Matthew and assumed a protective posture. "Take us to the others, we'll get them to safety and then we end this, one way or another!" Arthur lead the way, not knowing that they were being watched and followed.

* * *

Romulus and Wolfgang fought side by side against the demons that were coming at them from all directions and they were they were growing less and less as other angels distracted the demons until there were only one or two for the two to deal with and they made short work of them.

"We should find our grandsons," Romulus said as Wolfgang sent the last demon crashing to the ground. Wolfgang looked up and saw Arthur and Alfred flying past, followed by Matthew, Gilbert, Francis and Antonio. He grabbed hold of Romulus and took off after them. They caught up with them and joined the formation as they flew away from the main fighting.

"Where are the others?" Romulus asked as they came in close.

"We're going to them now," Arthur replied. "We took them to a wooded area out of sight of Ivan and his crew. We can take Romano and Feliciano home and put Ludwig in their care while we return and help deal with Ivan."

"Good thinking!" Wolfgang said and they continued on their way, unaware that Ivan and his lackeys were following.

* * *

Feliciano was doing his best to tend to Ludwig's bruises and cuts but without a first-aid kit, he was limited to what he could do but Ludwig seemed to have healed some since their liberation. Elizaveta and Feliks were keeping watch while Romano paced back and forth between two trees.

"This sucks," he fumed. "We can't find out who's winning, the demon bastards or the angel bastards!" Feliciano idly wondered if referring to angels as bastards might land Romano in trouble with the Heavenly Powers but none of the angels around them seemed to care.

"I'm sure everyone's fine," Feliciano replied. "Antonio will be back in no time, you'll see."

"Who cares about that demonic jerk bastard?" Romano snapped. "If he'd stayed out of our lives, we wouldn't be here now!" Feliciano was not fooled. Romano was worried about Antonio and would be until he was sure the demon was alive and unhurt.

"They're here!" Elizaveta called out as she and Feliks watched the group of angels and demons flying over the trees and they circled around to land. As they touched down, Romulus ran to greet his grandsons.

"Nonno!" Feliciano gasped as his grandfather walked toward them, his large wings folded around him. Standing up from beside Ludwig, Feliciano ran into his grandfather's waiting arms. Romano stood back, not knowing what to do as Romulus held Feliciano with one arm and opened the other for Romano. For a moment, Romano did not move but then his lip quivered and he ran into his grandfather's embrace.

"I missed you, you old bastard!" he wept. Romulus held both his grandsons tight.

"I missed you too," he replied. "Both of you. I didn't want to leave you!"

"You're back now, Nonno!" Feliciano replied and both of them hugged their grandfather back. Wolfgang and Gilbert made their way over to Ludwig who struggled to his feet, Gilbert helping him up, with the others standing out of the way of the family reunions.

"How are you, Ludwig?" his grandfather asked, looking over the bruises that Ivan had inflicted on him. They seemed to be fading already but Ludwig was clearly still in some discomfort.

"I'll heal, Großvater," Ludwig reassured his grandfather while Gilbert gave a grin and patted his bruder on the back.

"Ludwig comes from an awesome blood-line," he declared. "It'll take more than Ivan to put him down."

"Why don't we test that theory, da?" came Ivan's voice behind them. Everyone spun round to see the Russian demon standing there, surrounded by Eduard, Toris, Raivis and several other demons. "You angels have put up a good fight but it makes me smile to think I'll soon crush all of you." Arthur and Matthew summoned their bows, Alfred took out his pistol, Antonio welded his axe and Gilbert and Francis produced their swords. Romulus and Wolfgang also took out swords along with Elizaveta and Feliks began chanting something. Ivan's first target was Alfred but that was not who he went for first. While his henchmen kept the others busy, Ivan turned on Arthur who aimed his bow at Ivan.

"Ah, Arthur!" Ivan sighed. "I would have giving you a good existence in Hell, after I had changed you into a demon but you had to choose that turncoat." Ivan nodded at Alfred who had his pistol aimed at Ivan's head. "You know he'll be dead soon so I guess you lose all round, da? But look on the bright side, you won't have too long to mourn him before you join him!"

"You haven't killed anyone yet," Alfred snarled, keeping Ivan covered with his pistol. "And you're not going to!" And Alfred fired but, somehow, Ivan evaded the bullet and shot toward Alfred and swung his pipe into Alfred's stomach, driving the air out of him and sending him to the ground. Ivan gave a smile, disturbing in its softness, as he lifted his pipe and brought it down towards Alfred's head but it never connected. Instead, the pipe was halted by Arthur's bow as Arthur held Ivan off while Ivan pushed back with his pipe but, being an angel, Arthur was deceptively strong and gave as good as he got.

"You could still join me, Arthur," Ivan told him. "The kind of demon you'd make, the two of us could rule Hell!" Arthur gave him another shove.

"I don't want to rule Hell," he snapped. "And I'll never be a demon."

"Too bad," Ivan replied as he pushed back again. "I can only let you live as my ally."

"Then I guess you'll have to kill me!" Arthur managed to shove Ivan back and fired an arrow that Ivan barely dodged. By this time, Alfred was back on his feet and Ivan had to dodge bullets as well.

"Two against one," he commented. "Not a fair fight!"

"Reminder me again, Ivan," Alfred replied. "How many were with you when you dragged me into Hell!" Ivan cocked his head, smiling.

"Fair point!" he conceded and flew at them again, brandishing his pipe, somehow avoiding both arrows and bullets. Ivan missed Alfred but managed a glancing blow to the side of Arthur's head. The British angel went down and Alfred moved to protect him.

"You really do love him, don't you," Ivan mocked. "A demon and an angel! The ultimate Romeo and Juliet! Of course, you know how that story turned out! Ready to die again?" Arthur was beginning to stir from the unconsciousness the blow to his head had sent him into as Ivan and Alfred continued to fight. They clashed time and again, neither gaining the upper hand until Ivan changed his tactics. Instead of attacking Alfred as a whole, he concentrated on one part, the hand holding his pistol. The blow broke bones and pulled a cry of pain from the American demon as the gun flew from his hand. Ivan raced and picked up the gun, aiming it at the still groggy Arthur.

"I'll kill you soon enough," Ivan said to Alfred like he was saying 'I'll see you tomorrow'. "But perhaps a little more emotional punishment for you." Arthur could see the pistol aimed at him but he was still too dazed to get up as Ivan squeezed the trigger.

* * *

Yao was working non-stop as injured angels came in a steady stream and, as fast as he would get one angel back on their feet and back into the fight, two would take their place. Lukas's younger brother, Emil, a young man with ash-blonde air and violet eyes who had been born in Iceland, unlike his older brother who had been born in Norway, kept bringing more supplies so Yao could work with running out of medicals.

"How long is this going to go on for?" Emil asked as another wounded angel was brought in.

"As long as it does," Yao replied, vaguely. "Battles between Heaven and Hell to this extent are rare but when they happen, they can last a long time. We may have a while to go yet. He's the one I worry about, aru!" Yao pointed toward Tino who was moving among the angels too injured to return to battle, seeing to their comfort. It was decided that Tino should stay with the Infirmary Unit after his assault by Ivan, although he would rather be out fighting alongside Berwald.

"He's stuck here, worried about his husband," Yao added. "Helping the wounded occupies his mind but he still worries, aru."

"I know how he feels," Emil admitted. "My older brother's out there and I'm scared he'll be the next one to be carried in. Although I'd rather you didn't tell him I said that though." Yao chuckled. Emil loved his big brother but did not like to show it. It was sometimes fun to watch the brothers as Emil refused to call Lukas Big Brother like the elder wanted him to.

"Your secret's safe with me, aru," he laughed, happy to find something to laugh at in this hour of darkness.

"BERWALD!" Tino's tortured cry had both of them spinning round to see Lukas and Matthias carrying Berwald between them. Emil was relieved to see that Lukas was unharmed but his heart went out to Tino as he knelt beside Berwald when he was place on an empty cot.

"What are his injuries?" Yao demanded as he rushed in with medical supplies.

"Injured knee and head trauma," Lukas said without wasting time. "We got to him before Ivan could inflict any more damage." Matthias gripped his axe.

"Let's go inflict some of our own!" he declared and rushed out while Yao tended to Berwald. Lukas sighed and, after sharing a meaningful look at his younger brother, joined the hot-headed Danish angel. Yao was reassuring Tino as he worked on Berwald's head injury.

"He'll be just fine, Tino," he promised "He'll wake up with a headache but then he'll be as good as new."

"And I'll never let him out of my sight again!"

* * *

Elizaveta fought fiercely, swinging her sword and downing one demon after another but the odds were against them as Feliks continued to chant. Elizaveta fought to keep demons away from her partner as he did what ever he was doing. A rumble began to run through the ground and Feliks stopped chanting.

"Get off the ground!" he called and he and Elizaveta took to the trees. Just as a stampede of ponies ran into the trees and crashed into the demons. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Elizaveta had ever seen but it cleared the demons out.

"Unorthodox but effective," she commented. Feliks shrugged.

"I, like, totally like ponies!"

* * *

Romulus and Wolfgang took up a protective stance around Romano, Feliciano and Ludwig although the latter insisted that he could fight as they became surrounded by the Baltic Trio demons who, frankly looked like they would rather be anywhere else but there at that moment but they feared Ivan too much to disobey even though they were facing off against two powerful angels. They were just glad that they were not facing The Bad Touch Quartet as well. Alfred was being kept busy by Ivan, Gilbert fighting alongside Matthew, holding off some of the lesser demons as were Francis and Antonio, although Antonio would rather be at Romano's side, protecting his little  _ tomate  _ but someone had to fight the remaining demons.

To say that the Baltic Trio were no match for the Italian and Germanic angels was an understatement, coupled with the fact the these angels were protecting family, the two angels did not even break a sweat although it had to be said the Baltic Trio did not put up much of a fight and they were soon restrained.

"That was less of a challenge than I'd hoped," Romulus commented. Ludwig shrugged.

"They're here under duress," he replied. "I doubt their hearts were really in this fight and they're not the strongest demons in Hell. Ivan's the real threat here."

"Time to deal with him then," Wolfgang said. Then there was the sound of a gun shot!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO'S BEEN SHOT.....?
> 
> Sorry! When you have Poland, you have to have ponies. XP


	12. Vol XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE DON'T KILL ME...…!

 

** _**Vol XII** _ **

Alfred looked down at his chest to see blood spreading over the side where the bullet had gone in when he put himself between his own pistol and Arthur. Although the bullet had not gone through his heart, it was close enough to be a mortal wound. He looked up at Ivan with one last look of defiance before his strength began to fail and he fell to his knees, then falling backwards to be caught by Arthur.

"NO!" Arthur cried, holding Alfred's head against his chest. "No, no, no, no! Oh please, no!" Ivan looked on in amusement.

"It looks like you'll end up like Romeo and Juliet after all, da?" he commented and aimed Alfred's pistol at Arthur. Arthur closed his eyes and waited for the pain of a bullet entering his body but the bullet never came. As Ivan began to squeeze the trigger, he was suddenly ploughed into by something that hit him from the side and the pistol was knocked from his grasp and into some shrubbery. Ivan landed on the ground and looked up at Ludwig who, seeing Alfred being shot and Arthur about to be, despite his injuries, had come to his colleague and his demon lover's rescue. It had cost Ludwig to attack Ivan but he could not allow Arthur to be killed and Ivan stood up as Ludwig did his best to stand firm although the collision had taken some of his strength. Without the pistol, Ivan went back to his pipe and moved to confront Ludwig.

"You should have stayed out of the fight, arc-angel," he said. "You might have live longer!" In the background, Feliciano tried to get to Ludwig but was being held back by both Romulus and Romano to keep him out of danger.

"Stay here, idiota," Romano ordered.

Wolfgang was not so restrained and went to assist his grandson face off against one of Hell's most powerful demons while nearby, Arthur tried desperately to stem the flow of blood from Alfred's wound.

"Hold on, Alfred!" he begged, holding part of his robe against the bullet wound and holding the demon tightly while the fight with Ivan began to unfold. Wolfgang swung his sword and Ivan blocked it with his pipe and swung the pipe at Wolfgang who ducked and it whizzed over his head. Ludwig had summoned his own sword and was bringing it down on Ivan's head who dodged and slammed his pipe into Ludwig's side, breaking already damaged ribs and Ludwig gave a cry of pain and went down, leaving Wolfgang to face Ivan alone. Wolfgang lunged at Ivan who dodged to one side and brought his pipe down on Wolfgang's leg.

Hard!

The breaking bone was audible and made everyone but Ivan cringed and Wolfgang fell to the floor in pain. Ludwig struggled to his feet but he was in no condition for a fight but he could not let Ivan win without one but Ivan slammed the tap end of his pipe into Ludwig's stomach and he almost went down again.

"Time to die, arc-angel," Ivan said, turning his weapon to aim the pipe end at Ludwig.

"LUDWIG!" Feliciano screamed and broke loose of his grandfather and brother, running to Ludwig and throwing himself over him, shielding him with his body, just as Ivan thrust the pipe toward Ludwig. Feliciano's back arched as Ivan's pipe broke the skin and went in deep. The pain was so intense that Feliciano's mouth opened in a scream that was silent while Romulus and Romano screamed at the sight. Ivan pulled the pipe from Feliciano's back but there was no look of triumph on his face. Instead Ivan looked shocked. And scared!

Ludwig held Feliciano in his arms and, despite the broken ribs, lowered the wounded Italian to the ground. Feliciano was gasping in pain as blood practically poured from the injury in his back. Romulus and Romano ran to Feliciano's side but there was no doubt that Feliciano was dying.

"Idiota fratello!" Romano cursed, tears already falling from his eyes as they were from Romulus's. "Why did you do that?"

"Ve~ I couldn't let Ludwig die!" Feliciano said between gasps of pain. "I love him too much!" Ludwig held the dying Italian as close as he could to him.

"Ich liebe dich auch, meine Liebe!" Ludwig replied in a broken voice.  _ ( _ _ _ I love you too, my Love! _ _ _ ) _ .

"Nyet!" Ivan shouted. "Nyet! He can't die! He can't!" But the light was beginning to fade from Feliciano's eyes.

"I love you, fratello!" he said. "You too. Nonno! I wish I had had more time with you, Ludwig!" Romulus hugged his dying grandson.

"You'll have all the time in the world, Feli!" he promised but got no response. He pulled back and looked at Feliciano but Feliciano was gone, his beautiful, bright, amber eyes dulled by death and he was unnaturally still. As Romulus closed Feliciano's eyes, Romano wailed his grief and, with that cry of human suffering, the sky turned red.

"NYET!" Ivan screamed.

* * *

Yao looked up as the sky turned crimson, Tino looking up as well as he sat with Berwald who had regained consciousness. All fighting came to a halt as everyone, angel and demon alike stared at the sky's suddenly strange colour. Lukas and Mathias looked at each other and then stared at the sky. Elizaveta and Feliks gazed through the trees at the scarlet light and Gilbert, Matthew, Antonio and Francis knew something big had happened and went looking for Alfred.

* * *

Ivan, for the first time since becoming a demon, was panic-stricken. Why had the stupid human leapt in front of his victim and taken the death blow? Ivan was in trouble now! He had killed an uncorrupted and Hell would be furious about it. The sky turning red meant that emissaries would come and Heaven would make it's demand. Whatever Heaven demanded, Hell would have to pay and it would be taken out of Ivan's hide.

There was a roar of flames and when they faded, Vladimir stood in their midst and he looked around at the scene. Alfred was lying in Arthur's arms, still alive but he would not be for long while Ludwig, Romulus and Romano wept and kept vigil over Feliciano's body and helping Wolfgang. There were sounds of flapping as Matthew and the rest of The Bad Touch Quartet flew into the horrific scene.

"NO!" Matthew screamed, immediately going to Alfred's side as the American demon struggled for breath. Gilbert went to comfort his bruder and help his grandfather while Antonio tried to do the same for Romano but the distraught Italian shook him off and glared at him with a look of hate.

"This is your fault, you demonic bastard," he spat through his tears. "If you hadn't come into our lives, my fratello would still be alive." All the other times Romano had sworn at him and called him names, Antonio had just laughed it off but this time, it hurt him to the core. Maybe because, deep down inside, he believed Romano was right! And Romano would never forgive him! Francis went to Alfred's side but he knew there was nothing he could do except be with his friend until the end and try to comfort Alfred's brother and lover. But who would comfort him?

Ivan knew Vladimir had been sent as Hell's representative to hear Heaven's demand for this transgression of the rules and he tried to plead his case, hoping that he could talk his way out of the punishment that would be his if Hell decided he was at fault.

"The human was not my target!" he said, desperately. "He threw himself between me and the arc-angel. He wasn't the one I was trying to kill, I swear.!"

"You brought the Vargas Brothers into the fight," Vladimir responded. "Therefore, you were responsible for anything that happened to them and now one has died at your hands. An untainted soul, an uncorrupted! Hell now has to forfeit something to Heaven and you, Ivan, must pay the price of what Heaven demands. Pray Heaven doesn't demand much."

"I've always hated a battlefield," a new voice said and everyone turned to look at an old priest, walking toward them. Alfred, through his pain, recognised the priest from the church as the man stopped by Feliciano's body and lay a gentle hand on his head.

"Rest now, my son!" he said, simply and placed a hand on the shoulders of Romulus and Romano.

"Don't despair!" he told them and gave a soft smile to Ludwig. "Everything happens for a reason." Then he stood up and went to Alfred and Arthur as the British angel held his dying lover. Francis made way for the priest as he knelt beside them and the priest put his hand against Alfred's cheek.

"You remember what I told you?" the priest asked him. "Heaven has not abandoned you yet, my son." Then he cupped Arthur's tear stained cheek with his other hand. "Have faith, child! This is not over yet!" He stood up again and, this time, walked toward Vladimir and as he walked, he began to glow and grew brighter with every step until he was nothing but bright light that did not harm the eyes to look at. Everyone stared and Vladimir bowed his head in respect while Ivan began to panic. The Divine One was representing Heaven in this. This would not end well for Ivan if God himself was taking an interest.

"My Lord!" Vladimir said, bowing his head. (Even demons gave respect to the Almighty). "Hell waits to make restitution for the transgression against Heaven. Please! Tell me what you wish us to forfeit!" The light pulsed as God spoke.

"I will not make unreasonable demands on Hell," the light said. "Hell has respected the rules between us for millennia now so I will ask for only what I believe to be fair. I wish for all the souls Ivan acquired by trickery to be released back to those who once possessed them and all angels corrupted to demons by him to be restored." A gasp went up from all who heard what God had said. It was a huge demand but, in the circumstances, not unreasonable. Vladimir nodded as if he had been expecting it while Ivan willed him to try to negotiate for a smaller recompense, even though Hell had no choice but to pay up.

"Agreed!" Vladimir replied and looked at Ivan, almost in sympathy. Ivan had worked very hard at acquiring souls, Hell was about to lose a great many demons and would not be happy with Ivan.

* * *

Some of the demons on the battlefield began to feel strange and their wings dried out and began to crumble as did their tails and horns. Eduard, Toris and Raivis felt the chains around them go slack as their wings lost substance and crumbled and then feathers began to sprout from Toris's back, growing into full plumage and he stood up and flapped his restored wings. Tears fell from his eyes as it had been a long time since he felt the wind through them and then he felt the Heavenly Light that had once been a part of him, fill him up inside and he cried harder as he realised that he was an angel again. Eduard and Raivis also felt something they had not felt in a long time, surging through their bodies. Something they never thought they would feel again.

Life!

* * *

Gilbert, Antonio and Francis looked on in amazement at each other as their wings turned to dust and blew away on the breeze along with their tails and their horns became ashes in their hair as they turned back into humans. Living breathing humans!

"Awesome!" Gilbert summed it up for everyone while Wolfgang reached up and pull his newly-redeemed grandson down into a hug but then they all turned to Alfred. Alfred's wings were crumbling as well, his horns fell apart and his tail turned to dust. But then his hair began to be change colour, the black fading away at the roots, leaving sun-kissed locks in its wake. The black drained down to the tips and disappeared, making Alfred look even more angelic in Arthur's eyes but one thing that did not vanish was the gun-shot wound. Alfred was still dying and nothing could stop it. Not even becoming a living human being again.

Vladimir once again bowed to God.

"Hell will make sure that this transgression doesn't happen again, My Lord," he said. "I take my leave now. Ivan, you come with me!" Ivan knew what awaited him in Hell and did something no one had seen him do before. He ran! Vladimir snapped his fingers and fire surrounded the fleeing figure of Ivan, taking him to Hell to face what was awaiting him. Vladimir bowed to the Divine One again and fire surrounded him and took him away.

"Please, My Lord!"

Arthur's quiet and respectful but grieving voice addressed the light and it moved toward him and the dying Alfred.

"What do you ask of me, my son?"

"Alfred is still dying," Alfred replied. "Please, can you save him?" If it was possible for light to looked saddened, this light managed it.

"Alfred is a mortal now," God said. "I gave Humanity free will to make their own decisions and mistakes but it means I cannot interfere with what happens to them. It's Alfred's time as it was Feliciano's. Not even I can change that." Arthur brought his head down to Alfred's and began weeping harder.

"It's all right!" Alfred whispered and brought his hand up to stroke Arthur's face. "I'm not a demon any more. I'll die free of that taint. I only regret that I'll be leaving you but I'm still glad I met you, Arthur. Finding you, loving you saved my soul and I could never regret that!" He turned his gaze to his brother. "Matthew! Tell Gilbert I said that he better do right by you!" Matthew, too grief-stricken to speak, just nodded and brought his head down to touch Alfred's. Alfred coughed and it became harder to breathe. "I want one last thing!"

"Anything, Alfred!" Arthur whispered back. "Just ask!"

"Kiss me, one last time!"

Arthur bit back a sob and stroked the side of Alfred's face, lowering his mouth to Alfred's. Their lips touched softly and then with more pressure. It was sweet, sad and poignant and then came the moment when Arthur felt the life leave Alfred's body. He broke the kiss, looking down at Alfred's face. He looked peaceful and serene with a small smile but he was still. Too still!

Matthew put his hand over his mouth as if to contain all the grief that overflowing in him. Arthur could not contain it and began sobbing as his heart shattered and he rocked Alfred's body back and forth like a mother rocking a baby, a similar action being performed by Romano with Feliciano only a few feet away. Gilbert went to Matthew and pulled the angel into his arms and held him tight as the angel wept on to his shoulder. Francis wrapped his arms around both Arthur and Alfred and wept for his friend and vowed to look out for his friend's love, although how he could do that when he was now human and Arthur was an angel, he did not know but he would find a way. Antonio knew that Romano might reject his comfort but he did what Francis was doing, wrapping his arms around both Romano and Feliciano and holding them both and, predictably, Romano struggled against the contact.

"Let go of us, you bastard!" he yelled. "I don't want you touching me or my brother!" Despite now being human and no longer having a demon's strength, Romano could not shake Antonio off.

"I know you hate me now," Antonio said, keeping a tight hold on the wriggling Italian. "But I'm going to stay with you through this. We've both lost people we love. I've lost my friend and you've lost your brother! Please, don't shut me out! I love you, Romano! Please forgive me, I can't lose you too!"

"Ve~ Forgive him, fratello!"

Everyone turned to Feliciano's body where the voice had come from but it was still a corpse. Then out of Feliciano's dead hand emerged another one. It was followed by an arm and then a copy of Feliciano's body emerged from the corpse but this body had beautiful white wings and wore a white toga. The clone stood up and looked back down at everyone, pointing to the corpse.

"Ve~ You can put my body down now," Angel Feliciano said. "I'm not there, any more!" Romulus stood and swept his angel grandson into a big hug as Antonio made Romano gently put Feliciano's corpse down on the ground. Ludwig stood up and, when Romulus was finished with his hug, pulled Feliciano into one of his own.

"I should have known," he muttered. "You could only become an angel. You're too pure to be anything else." Ludwig was pulled away from Feliciano by Romano who latched on to his fratello and tried to hug him to death.

"Stupido!" he cursed. "Don't ever do that to me again, idiota!" Feliciano hugged his brother back. And then he saw Antonio over Romano's shoulder, looking lost in the world.

"Forgive Antonio," Feliciano begged. "It was my time. You know you love him and he'll need your help to settle back in the world! Please! Try to do it for me, fratello!" Romano bit his lip and finally nodded. He did not know if he could but, for Feliciano, he would try.

Arthur continued to rock Alfred's body while he squeezed his eyes shut to try to prevent more tears from escaping although it was not doing a very good job. Then he felt a hand touching his cheek and he looked to see an arm protruding out of Alfred's body. Matthew gasped as he looked and watched as a copy of Alfred, sporting a pair of magnificent wings and wearing a one shouldered robe, emerged from the dead body. Arthur lay the corpse gently down and stood up to stare at Angel Alfred.

"How …..?" was all that Arthur could say. Matthew broke from Gilbert and swamped his brother in a massive hug.

"I don't care how!" he declared. "I only care that it has!" Alfred returned his brother's hug.

"I knew you would be a beautiful angel," Arthur commented and Alfred released his brother and swept Arthur into his arms.

"My last memory was your kiss," he said and swooped in for another one. Arthur clung to him as Alfred claimed his mouth but all too soon, the kiss had to end. Arthur reached over Alfred's shoulder to touch the beautiful plumage.

"How did this miracle happen?" he breathed.

"I wasn't going to free these souls just to lose them again," Everyone turned back to the light and could believe that they forgot that God was still there. "You all have a second life or a second chance. What you do with them is up to you. Please use them wisely!" The light gave a brief flash and then vanished.

"What do we do now?" Francis asked.

"You live," Romulus replied, taking Wolfgang's weight and helping to his feet with Ludwig's help. "And we watch over you!"

* * *

_ _ Six months later ….. _ _

The Higher-ups in Heaven found places for the redeemed demons in the world but returning Romano proved problematic as rumours began to circulate that maybe the explosion was a deliberate attempt at insurance fraud, despite the fact that the restaurant had been very successful before the explosion. Such was the way of malicious gossip and the police wanted to talk to the missing Vargas Brothers so Heaven pulled out all the stops.

Memories were altered and the explosion never happened! The restaurant had merely closed for renovation and the restaurant was repaired. The Paradiso _Italiano_ reopened with additional staff, a new Spanish manager, French, Prussian descent, Estonian and Latvian waiters joined the staff and all the regular diners were happy their favourite eating place was open again. The only sad part was the death of the younger Vargas Brother. The Vargas Brothers had taken a holiday while the restaurant was being renovated and poor Feliciano had been killed in a freak accident. No one knew the details and no one thought to ask but many attended his funeral, proving how well loved he was.

The restaurant had many new regular visitors after its reopening. Ludwig would come in with an invisible Feliciano to visit their brothers, Feliciano was now a guardian angel for Gilbert and Ludwig was supervising him as he was new to the job. Arthur would also come as he was still guardian angel to Romano and he was accompanied by Alfred who had been appointed guardian angel for Francis under Arthur's supervision just had Matthew had been and Matthew, no longer having Feliciano to watch over, was re-allocated and now watched over Antonio. Feliks watched over Raivis and Eduard was watched over by Toris.

Feliciano was in the kitchen, chatting with Romano who had Antonio chopping vegetables nearby and he was being ribbed by Francis while Ludwig talked to Gilbert. Arthur and Alfred could not help but laugh as Romano said, "If you've got nothing better to do, Wine Bastard, go wash the dishes!"

"He hasn't changed, has he?" Alfred said, still chuckling. Arthur grinned.

"I don't think he ever will!" he declared. "He'll always be irascible and foul-mouthed and I don't think Antonio would have it any other way." Antonio was trying cuddle Romano and getting smacked upside the head and told to get back to it but it did not stop Antonio grinning. Frequent visits from Feliciano had helped Romano forgive Antonio and the two were growing close again. Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur and held him tight, smiling down at his lover.

"To think six months ago, I was a demon," he said. "Now I'm a guardian angel with a terrific boyfriend! I never thought a miracle would ever happen to me!" He leant down and claimed Arthur's lips. Arthur clung to Alfred and gave a moan of disappointment when it stopped.

"I guess the Romeo and Juliet story can have a happy ending after all," he replied and they kiss again.

* * *

Francis looked at all of the  _ L'amour  _ that was going on around him. Feliks and Toris gazing at each other, Romano and Antonio doing their own brand of flirting with each other, Gilbert was cooing over his Birdie, Ludwig and Feliciano could not get any closer and then there was Arthur and Alfred. Their romance had led to them regaining their human lives and gave them another shot at Heaven. Francis did not intend to let this chance pass him by and make another silly mistake like last time, although he rather doubted he would meet Ivan again any time soon. Or at all!

All the love on display was making Francis feel somewhat lonely so he went back out into the dining area to see if any more diners had come in that he could serve. A young woman sat in the corner with her head down and her shoulders slumped and Francis knew enough to know someone who had been stood up and it made him sad to see this girl so brought down.

"Mademoiselle?"

The girl's head came up and the breath caught in Francis's throat. She was the living image of his wife! The short, wavy blonde hair and the blue eyes that were awash with tears yet to fall but it could not be his beloved wife, she had died many years ago but still …...

"Can I help you, mademoiselle?" he asked, trying to breath properly. "You seem to be a little … down!" The girl gave a watery smile.

"Not unless you know where my date might be," she replied, drily.

"Désolé," Francis said. "But I can tell you, whoever it is, they are a fool to pass up the chance to spend time with a lovely lady like you." The woman gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Not lovely enough, apparently," she muttered. Francis sat down beside her.

"You are for me!" he declared and took her hand. "My name is Francis! And what do I call you, lovely lady?" The girl finally gave a genuine smile.

"My name is Jeane!"

* * *

Vladimir stood on the roof of the building opposite, looking down at the restaurant below, thinking that everything had worked out well. Ivan had become too powerful, powerful enough to challenge Vladimir's position as the Lord of Hell, even though very few knew who the Lord of Hell actually was. Vlad or Lucifer as the Lord of Hell was known, quite often wandered Hell as the quiet, unassuming demon known as Vladimir. He saw things that his denizens would never show him if they knew who he really was and he knew that Ivan's ultimate goal was to become Lord of Hell. He was that type.

Losing all those demons did not upset him as much as many might suspect. Sure, losing them angered him but it was a small price to pay to bring Ivan down. Besides, all the demons Ivan created were never completely corrupt and came with a small spark of Heavenly Light within them, something that did not belong in the heart of a demon.

Vlad/Lucifer took one more look at the restaurant and knew that none of the redeemed demons would ever be corrupted again as they were forewarned but there were plenty of other fish in the sea, people willing to sell their souls for less altruistic things as it was now against the rules to accept a soul to save a life that could never really be saved. That loophole had been closed forever but now to work, there was an ex-demon in the punishment pits, awaiting his special attention!

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the end. I'll have to decide which of my stories to put up next but I'll find something. Till next time!


End file.
